Caught by a Butterfly
by Sailor Josseme
Summary: Endymion is the prince of Spain on Earth. What happens when 5 beautiful servants are sold to him? And what about one especially beautiful chika who Endymion can't ignore? A Serenity and Endymion love story! Rated M for mature!I'm using the Japanese names.
1. The Butterfly Hatches

**Caught by a Butterfly**

**Summary:** _Endymion is the a Prince of the great country of Spain. Only he has to get married within the month to keep his title! But when a group of girls are sold to him as servants his life changes drastically. But are the girls actually servants? And what happens when a certain blonde starts to spend more time with the prince?_

Oh and there may be a few random Spanish words added in.  
( **Principe** means **prince**, **Signore** means **Mr. /Sir**, **Mariposa** means **Butterfly**)

-Sailor Josseme

Endymion paced the hallways of his beautiful castle. He looked out the window and saw the rolling hills of Seville, Spain, where he lives. Sighing, he continued to pace the halls. He thought back to the conversation he had earlier with his council members.

"_Endymion," said a short balding man, "we are completely prepared to take away your kingship if you do not marry before your 23__rd__ birthday as it is stated in your father's will."_

"_But my birthday is in a month!" Endymion shot back, amazed. _

"_Well then Principe, you better choose one of your adoring fans quickly."_

Endymion sighed again. 'This is father's last way of torturing me.' he thought bitterly. Endymion's problem wasn't that women didn't like him. On the contrary, he had most of the unmarried women in the court after him. Most of the married ones too, for that matter. He had developed a reputation of being a playboy, which was what worried his council. They wanted him to settle down and produce off-springs before he was the laughing-stock of the entire kingdom. But Endymion didn't take any of the silly court-women seriously. They were so easily amused. He slept with some of them, but never more than once. 'Once you've 'known' a woman once, you've known her forever' was his famous motto.

"Signore," a young male servant said in a shaking voice behind him, "uhmm, Principe Endymion please… there's a, well… delivery waiting for you."

"Very well," the duke said, barely looking up. He followed the young servant, Pé-pé, to the front gate where a man with a cart full of people was standing. The vendor was a tall, lanky, balding man in his early 50's. Many of his teeth were missing as Endymion could see as he smiled at the young prince.

"Signore Adolfo, what have you for me today?" The duke asked the repulsive vendor.

"Oh Príncipe, I have such a surprise for you! Since you go through servants so quickly I really brought you the best of the best! If all my customers went through servants like you did, especially the female ones, I would be a rich man!" Adolfo winked at Endymion as though they shared some sort of private joke.

"Yes, yes Adolfo, now please bring me the 5 new servants I requested." Without saying a word the vendor opened the cart and ushered 5 women down. They weren't really women at all; the girls looked to be no more than 16 years old. Endymion didn't really care at all about welcoming new servants. He really just did it to check out what beautiful women he would persuade into his bed over the next couple of months. That was about how long his female servants lasted: a couple months.

This time Adolfo really outdid himself. Each of the four girls before him was beautiful. 'Wait, four?' Endymion thought to himself, 'where's the fifth one?' Then he realized that Adolfo was struggling with a blond woman in the cart. She seemed to not want Adolfo to touch her. She kicked him hard in between his legs and he fell to the ground. Then, as gracefully as a butterfly, she lowered herself from the cart and stood with the other girls.

Now Endymion really evaluated the girls. The first one had short blue-black hair. She was very short and seemed shy. She was staring at the ground and clutched her hands in front of her. Her dress was tattered and ripped and looked as though it had once been a light blue. 'I'll look forward to breaking her innocence…' thought the prince with a smirk.

The next girl Endymion examined looked straight into his eyes. She had long straight black hair that she was twirling absentmindedly. She seemed to be inspecting him at the same time as he was inspecting her. He was surprised that she could be so bold, but boldness was always something he welcomed in a woman. He liked to break women of that and make them his slaves.

Next was a tall brunette. She was by far the tallest of all the girls and had bright green eyes. She had her arms crossed and had a peeved expression on her face. But she was looking at the ground as though she were deep in thought. She wore a tattered dress like all the girls but on top was a pale green apron.

The next girl had striking blond hair; uncommon in these parts. She was looking around, soaking up everything she saw. Her hair was straight and came all the way down her back. She looked a little dim but being stupid was never a reason why Endymion would refuse a girl form his bed. She had a wonderful body beneath her frayed gown and Endymion looked forward to exploring it.

The last girl, the one Endymion labeled 'the feisty butterfly' stood proudly at the end of the line. She had long blond hair in two long pigtails that came to her knees. She was the shortest girl, but you wouldn't notice from just talking to her. She oozed confidence and assuredness. She stood straight and had a wicked little smile on her face as she looked to the ground.

"Now little Mariposa (A/N see note above)," Endymion said to the girl, "Would you kindly tell me why you beat on Signore Adolfo so wickedly? I could hang you for that." Darien had to hide his smile of amusement.

"Your highness, please forgive my rude behavior. I wish your royal self had not needed to see such a display; however that man attempted, on multiple occasions, to touch me in ways that my mother would not have deemed appropriate. I simply decided to 'touch' him a way he would enjoy as much as I enjoyed him." The cute blond tried to hide a smile while the other servants suppressed giggles. Then Endymion did something that surprised everyone, including himself. He laughed. A full-bellied, good-hearted laugh. The five girls looked at each other surprised. They'd heard that the prince was a cold-hearted man who looked down on everyone. But now he was laughing at a joke a servant had made. Maybe he wasn't so bad…

Endymion's laughter stopped as quickly as it had started. "Well I'm quite sure Adolfo deserved that treatment, but he is your better. You will not have dinner tonight. Your five may find your rooms, this boy here," Endymion pulled the small boy, Pé-Pé, forward, "will show you around. Since you have arrived in the afternoon you may have tonight off, but be prepared to work hard tomorrow." With that the prince walked off briskly.

"Uhhm… I'll show you to your room." The small boy said shyly.

"Hi! What's your name?" The energetic brunette said.

"I'm um, José, but everyone calls me Pé-Pé."

"Awesome!" the brunette replied. "I'm Makoto, the shy one is Ami, the one with black hair is Rei, the blonde is Minako and the one the Prince just called Mariposa is Serenity."

"Oh okay…" The nervous little boy replied. 'There's something a little… off about these girls. They aren't like the other ones. I wonder what's really going on here…' Pé-Pé thought as he led the five girls up to their room. "Uh, here you are. I'll come and get you at 6:00 for dinner. Uh, bye." With that the little boy left the 5 girls on their own.

"Oh Serenity, you really have to watch your tongue!" Rei snapped at the little blonde, "No servant talks like that! If we want to keep this up you have to be careful!"

"Oh come on Rei!" Serenity replied, "He'd never suspect that royalty would disguise themselves as servants. We're fine. And we have plenty of time for our plan to work! Everything's going perfectly!"

**Ha ha, first chapter and I'm leaving you on a cliff-hanger! Please review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Wings begin to Open

**Caught by a Butterfly  
**_Please read and review! Rated M for Mature  
_**Oh**_ and this story takes place AROUND year 1500, but it's ambiguous.  
__It's not modern.  
_**Last time**: Serenity, Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako are sold to Endymion, prince of Spain, as servants. Only the girls are a bit more than they seem.  
**Spanish words**: Principe means _prince_, Signore means _Mr. /Sir  
_Mariposa means _Butterfly, _Palacio means_ palace_.

* * *

The five girls looked around their new room. It had stone walls with no paintings or coverings. The windows had no drapes and the 2 large beds had off-white, stained covers. 

"Well," Serenity stated calmly, " this isn't exactly like our _palacio_ back home, but it isn't awful." This scheme was developed over a month ago. The five girls are all related; Serenity and Minako are sisters. Their cousins on their mother's side are the sisters Ami and Makoto. Ami and Makoto's cousin on their father's side is Rei. Rei, Serenity and Minako are not related by blood, only through Ami and Makoto. Rei is, however, the second cousin of Prince Endymion. Which is where this whole mess started.

Rei's mother was always a respectable person in court. But her sister's husband's sister was married to Prince Endymion's father. Endymion's father, Endyrio, never liked Rei's mother. Then six years ago Rei's mother, Reila, said something snippy to Endyrio. Suddenly, rumors started to fly about Reila having affairs with various members of the royal court. Everyone was talking about how Rei's father was a fool and her mother was a whore. Rei never recovered and she rarely showed her face in court again. Four years ago Endyrio died mysteriously. Ever since there have been even more vicious rumors about how Reila poisoned him. Rei's life has been completely ruined and her only solace were her dear cousins and best friends.

So the girls devised a plan to ruin Endymion's life. They weren't sure exactly how they would go about doing this, but the first phase of the plan was already complete: get into Endymion's palacio. They paid off Adolfo, the servent vendor, and told him to maker sure all 5 of them got into Endymion's _palacio. _The rest of the plan was up in the air. The girls figured that once they arrived in his castle they would find some way of ruining his life as Rei's life was ruined.

The girls started to put away the few things they brought with them.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Minako said with a smile as she put away her night-dresses.

"I know! It's like a vacation from being royal!" Makoto added excitedly, "We don't have to have anyone telling us how to dress or how to walk-"

"Oh how much to eat!" Serenity interrupted.

"Leave it to the hungry-hungry-caterpillar to think about food!" Rei said teasingly.

"Hey! Stop it!" Serenity replied with a pout.

"That's right!" Minako added with a wink, "Today Endymion called her a _Mariposa_, didn't he!" The girls started to laugh uncontrollably at the idea of clumsy Serenity being a graceful butterfly.

"What can I say," said Serenity with a grin, "I guess he sees my natural charm." More giggles erupted from the teenaged girls.

"In all seriousness girls, this can't just be a vacation. We have to keep a sharp eye out for Endymion. We have to find something we can ruin his life with." Serenity reminded with a gentle look at Rei. She was the most hesitant about the 'master plan'. As much as she wanted revenge, something about the plan seemed like another opportunity to give her family a bad name. The hour until supper-time passed quickly. At sunset there was a knock on the door.

"Dinner is ready." Came Pé-Pé's weak voice from behind the door. The girls were famished and they eagerly walked after Pé-Pé to the dining room. As they entered the servant's dining room the girls were disappointed. The dinner seemed not to have been set yet. On the table there was a large bowl, nine small bowls and some bread.

"Where's the food?" Asked Serenity, slightly annoyed.

"On the table…" replied their little guide.

"You mean, that's it?" The girls started at the table in shock. They were used to huge meals where they could eat for hours. Now it seemed that their meal was a brownish stew and bread.

"Hello, you girls must be the new maids!" stated a short red-head while entering the dining room. 'My name is Naru, I'm sharing your room with the five of you. We're going to have so much extra space! Last month there were ten maids! Now there's only six."

"You mean that room with only three beds is for the six of us?" Makoto asked with bulging eyes.

"Last month? Then the prince get new maids very often." Ami thought out loud.

"That tiny room! The 6 of us are all sleeping in that tiny room!" Makoto continued, hardly paying attention to Ami.

Naru looked surprised. "Is this your first placement?" She asked slowly. The five girls quickly glanced at each other.

"Yes well…" Makoto started

"Uhh…" Minako interjected.

"Uh yes." Serenity concluded

"Well yes I guess it is…" Rei said, flustered. All the girls were nervous that they had given themselves away with their upper-class attitudes.

Naru smiled warmly. "Don't worry, I was nervous too at my first placement. But I've been in this castle for almost six months now, which is very good for a maid in this household. For some reason after a few weeks most maids seem to quit or are asked to leave. I think Endymion is very particular with his maids. I guess he just likes me!"

The girls exchanged quick glances with each other. Somehow they figured that Naru's reasoning was a bit naïve.

"Here comes my fiancé, Gurio!" Naru giggled excitedly, "We're getting married next month." Serenity giggles as she saw a small blush creep into Naru's cheeks. Gurio was quite short, maybe an inch taller than Naru, and had frizzy brown hair. He quietly pecked Naru on the cheek and sat down at his place for dinner. By this time all the girls and Pé-Pé had sat down and were eating their stew hungrily.

"How long have you been engaged?" Ami asked with an intense look on her face.

"Since a week after I started working here. We knew each other when we were children and I was always in love with Gurio." Now Gurio was blushing too, "Well, we met up here and, after a week of getting to know each other again, Gurio asked for my hand. But we haven't had time to be married yet. Our vacation is next month though, so that's when we're setting the day."

"So," Ami concluded, with a deep look on her face, "almost the whole time you've worked here you've been engaged…" Naru smiled and nodded then started to talk to Gurio about different plans for the wedding.

"Ami, what are you getting to with all this?" Serenity asked. She knew her cousin very well. Ami wouldn't ask these questions unless she had a theory.

"Nothing yet," Ami leaned in so only the four other girls could hear her, "but don't you think it's curious that the only maid Endymion hasn't fired in six months is the one who's engaged?"

"I don't know what you mean…" Serenity replied, "well, yes I suppose it is a little weird."

"I'll think about it some more, but if you hear anything particular please tell me." Serenity could see information being processed rapidly in Ami's head. 'I swear that girl has more information in her head than Galileo!' Serenity thought about her brilliant friend. The girls finished their meal quickly and headed back to their room. Naru, Gurio and Pé-Pé still had more work to do so the girls were alone. Gurio and Pé-Pé sleep in the smaller room right next to theirs.

"I never knew that Maids didn't get dessert…" Serenity whined.

"Me neither to be honest… what do you think about our placements?" Makoto asked the group. At dinner Pé-Pé explained the different roles the 5 girls would have. "I like that I'm helping the cook. I've always been fascinated with cooking." Makoto continued

"I'm doing laundry… I wonder what that is…" Minako said absentmindedly.

"I'm dusting the library, I hear Endymion's is immense!" Ami replied excitedly.

"I'm sweeping the whole palacio! That'll take forever, won't it?" Rei said, depressed.

"I'm meant to be tending to the prince… whatever that means…" Serenity replied. "I suppose I change his sheets and draw him a bath… that doesn't sound to hard!" she was grinning now, "And that gives me a great opportunity to keep tabs on his majesty." The girls spent the hours until bedtime chatting about their plans and strategies until the suggestions became wildly outrageous. The girls laughed until Naru came into the room, exhausted. Then all six girls blew out their candles and went to sleep.

* * *

On the other side of the castle Endymion sat on his bed thinking about a certain Butterfly he'd seen today. An especially beautiful blond Butterfly. 

"Oh little _Mariposa_, I hope I get to know you better."

* * *

_That's all for this chapter! Please Review!  
-Sailor Josseme_


	3. The Bunny and the Butterfly

**Caught by a Butterfly  
**Please read and review! Rated M for Mature  
Spanish words: _Principe_ means **prince**, _Siñor_ means **Mr. /Sir  
**_Mariposa_ means **Butterfly**, _Palacio_ means **palace**. _Madre_ means **mother**.  
---Thank you to the helpful reviews who corrected me---  
---when I wrote signore instead of Siñor.---

* * *

Endymion looked out over the rolling hills and olive groves from his balcony of this, his summer estate. He has two short months in this castle and then he moves back to his _palacio_ in Madrid. 

'And now I have to find a wife!' Endymion thought, annoyed. A small knock came from the door. "Come in." Endymion ordered without turning around.

Serenity entered the large bedroom. All along the walls were bookshelves full of old books that Serenity could never imagine reading. On one side of the room there was a huge king-sized bed. The walls were littered with paintings and light fixtures. Across from the bed was a large doorway which led to the balcony.

"Your Majesty," Serenity spoke nervously while curtsying. She was nervous that the Prince would recognize her from various functions. She had even danced with him before but she doubted he would even consider the fact that a royal would disguise herself as a servant. For the most part Serenity and her friends avoided the courtly gatherings. Since Rei refused to go it wasn't really much fun.

"Yes?" Endymion spoke abruptly and tiredly. He stood on his balcony with his hands on the railing, slumped over.

"I was… uh… told to…" Serenity paused. On some level she wanted to ask the Prince why he was so sad but she knew that was out of line for a servant. And also why should she want to make him feel better? He's the enemy! But Serenity was never one to listen to the reasonable part of her mind. She walked onto the balcony, standing in the doorway, just a meter away from the prince. "Is something the matter?"

Endymion hastily turned around. He was surprised to see the little beauty so near to him. And what had she just asked? Was something the matter?

Endymion arched his eyebrows and stood tall. "Well, _Mariposa_, if you must know I am being forced to marry within the month and Spain does not have a single suitable noble for me. I know every single noble woman in the court, except for one family who refuse to attend, and they're all the same." Endymion looked straight into Serenity's eyes. She had to turn away quickly as she felt a blush crawl onto her face.

"Well, _Siñor_, perhaps you should chose a wife from another country. I heard the ladies from Italy are very lovely."

"Italy? No. I will only have a Spanish bride. But this is of little consequence to you, isn't it _Mariposa_?" Endymion leaned over Serenity's turned back. "What is of consequence to you?" His hand slowly came over Serenity's shoulder. Just as he was about to touch her she suddenly turned around. Endymion hand was resting on her cheek. He peered down into the small servant's eyes. Serenity felt her heart beat faster and faster. His hand was making her face warm, or was that just a blush? Serenity tried to look away but found herself unable. Her mind screamed 'This filth should not be touching me!' but another part of her couldn't move away.

"_Siñor_… I was told I am to tend to you… what would you have me do?" Serenity did not move away from Endymion's hand but he could see her face flush. With a smirk Endymion lowered his hand. "So you're the servant they sent to tend to me. What a surprise. Well _Mariposa_, I have to say, I'm very demanding." Suddenly Endymion turned away and walked briskly across the room. "Start with my personal washroom. Clean all of it and have a bath ready for me in one hour. Goodbye." With that Endymion was gone. Serenity exhaled loudly. 'What happened back there?' She thought confusedly. 'He's my worst enemy, I can't believe I let that jerk touch me. I wish I'd hit him… I wish I had…' Serenity's thoughts became scattered. 'Never mind Serenity. Focus on your task. Clean the washroom. Just do it.' She wondered how the other girls were getting along.

* * *

Ami approached the library nervously. Pé-Pé had directed her towards the immense room and she followed his directions to a tee. Now she stood before huge wooden doors with gold handles. She took a breath and opened one. Before her was the biggest library she'd ever seen. It was about two stories high with winding staircases leading to the upper story. Tall ladders lined the bookshelves so readers could reach the top-most book. Ami was in awe. Her _palacio_ back home never had this many books. Her father never really supported Ami having an education and didn't buy her many manuscripts. Her sister, Makoto, didn't like reading so she didn't help Ami to convince their father to buy any. 

"Okay," Ami said to herself, "clean first, read later…" Ami grabbed her duster and started on the first shelf. Suddenly a certain book caught Ami's eye. "Don Quixote! I've always dreamed of reading this!" Ami grabbed the volume and skipped over to a comfy chair. Without thinking of anything else she sat and read for hours.

* * *

The kitchen, as Makoto could see, was not in the best condition. There were 3 other kitchen servants and a main cook. The cook was a sharp and wiry woman with grey hair tied into a tight bun. Her lips were pursed and barely visible while her nose was angular and flared at the nostrils. She quickly looked over Makoto's tall and curvaceous figure and gestured to the cutting board. 

"I'll give you the vegetables to cut. Wouldn't want you eating all the chocolate for dessert." Makoto was shocked at the woman's sudden judgment and had no reply. She shyly and quickly made her way over to the chopping board and started to cut up a carrot.

"You better peel that first." A strong voice beside her startled the girl. "They'll get mad it they have to eat an unpeeled carrot." Makoto turned her head and looked at the profile of a very handsome, tall man. He had curly brown hair that circled his head like a halo. His features were cut and strong but his chin was curved and had a dimple in it.

Before she could stop herself, Makoto's arrogant side took over. "Well _Siñor_-know-it-all, I'm so glad you decided to share your wisdom with me but I was planning on peeling the carrot after… I… chopped it..." She trailed off as she realized how ridiculous this comment was.

The man turned and leaned on the counter. "Really?" he said, "Well I look forward to seeing your unique chopping styles." He smiled mischievously, displaying a row of perfect white teeth. 'Keep your head, Mako…' Makoto mind was telling her 'He's just a guy. Ignore him.'

"My name is Olegario. It roughly means the elements of being Happy, Hearty and Healthy. What's your name?"

"Uhm, I'm Makoto. It means sincerity." She couldn't believe she was actually talking to this guy who obviously thought that he was so superior.

"Makoto… I like it. Can I call you Mako?" His eyes sparkled and shone. Makoto couldn't resist. She decided to trust him.

"That's what my friends call me. But I have to confess something, I don't know how to cook. Can you help me?" Makoto looked away. She never let people see her vulnerabilities but here she was asking for help from a stranger.

Olegario hooked his thumb under Makoto's chin and lifted her head so she could look into his eyes, "I'd be glad to help, Mako."

* * *

"Laundry is so not fun!" Minako pouted on her 5 minute break. She sat next to the other laundry girl, Dania. 

"Yeah, I know. But at least we're away from Endymion's generals down here." Dania answered, stretching casually.

"What do you mean?" Minako had never heard anything negative about Endymion's staff around the court.

"_Oh mi dios_! Do you mean you don't know? They're quite famous. They aren't real generals, they just like that title. If they see you in the hallways they'll try to have their way with you, and if they can't; they hit you! Watch out for them. You can't miss them. They wear matching black jackets with epaulettes and they carry whips. There's four of them. But you don't have to worry about them. We're almost completely safe down here. I've been here for three weeks and I've only run into them once."

Minako looked worried. "Is that why so many maids leave after only a couple of months here?"

Dania shot her a nervous glance "So you heard about that. Well no that's not the reason. The washing is ready to change." Minako noticed that her friend quickly changed the subject. 'What's going on here?' she thought while she removed the clothing from the boiling water and put it in a basket to go outside to dry.

* * *

'This really isn't as bad as I thought it would be…' Rei thought lazily as she swept the courtyard. 'At least I'm getting some sun out here.' 

Suddenly Rei was hit with an unexpected force that knocked her over. She flew through the air with a scream and landed on the ground with a thud, a body on top of her.

"GET OFF!" She screamed in fury. A young man lay on top of her with his face firmly planted on her chest. The young man quickly scrambled off of a very pissed-off Rei.

"Uh, sorry!" The man was looking straight at the ground but Rei could see a blush creep into his cheeks. She looked up at him and started to feel bad that she yelled at him. 'He's really kind of cute, isn't he?' She thought absently. He had long brown curly hair that covered his eyes. He had a rough shadow of a beard on his face and his voice was deep and masculine.

"Help me up then!" Rei said, a little more angrily than she intended. He quickly picked her up with surprisingly strong arms.

"My name is Chad. Well not really, but that's what everyone calls me. No one except my _madre_ knows my real name." He started to chuckle nervously and scratch his head. Rei had to roll her eyes at his obvious attempt to start conversation. But she was intrigued. This guy seemed like fun.

"My name is Rei, but that's my real name." She added with a smile.

"Okay Rei. I'm really, uh, sorry I ran into you. Actually I have to run away right now, I'm late for training. I'm going to become a knight, but I need training. I hope I uh, run into you again, Rei."

"Goodbye!" She called after the rapidly retreating form of Chad. 'Hum,' she thought, 'well he might be fun to talk to…'

* * *

Serenity had the bath drawn in exactly an hour. She waited by the bathroom door for Endymion to enter. He promptly appeared down the hallway just a minute after Serenity had finished. She looked up and saw him but then looked away immediately. She felt her cheeks redden straight away. Endymion was wearing nothing more than a red towel. His chiseled chest and muscular arms were in clear view. 

"Siñor." Serenity said with a curtsy, her eyes never leaving the stone floor. She couldn't see Endymion's triumphant smirk. 'This one will be even easier than I thought…'

"Well," he said out loud, "Is the bathroom spotless?"

"Yes Siñor. And new boiling water is in the tub. Is there anything else you desire of me?"

"I have a few desires of you, but for now I will be contented with my bath. Go clean my room. Then you may have the rest of the day off after you bring me my lunch. Tomorrow I will have a more serious task for you."

Serenity was startled at this liberty but she was excited to explore the palace and perhaps find out some gossip from other servants.

"Thank you Siñor!" She said happily and looked into his eyes. Endymion was taken aback. 'Her eyes are really very blue aren't they…' Endymion had never noticed a woman's eyes before. He seemed to look a lot lower for the most part.

"What is your name _Mariposa_?"

Serenity was shocked. She had never supposed the prince of Spain would ever ask a servant her name and so she had not prepared for this. If she gave her real name then he might start to piece together her real identity.

"My-my… my name is… well, it's… Usagi!" Serenity said quickly and impulsively. "My name is Usagi, like the bunny." She said with a giggle. Usagi had been her nickname as a child but she hadn't heard it since she was 6.

"Well, Usagi, I hope you enjoy your day off and I expect to see you at sun-rise tomorrow." Endymion looked at her small form retreat down the hallway. 'Usagi… I think I prefer _Mariposa_ for that little one."

At dinner the five friends met up in their quarters. Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako were all eager to gab about their day. Rei was chatting about Chad while Ami was gabbing about the rare books Endymion owned. Makoto and Minako were comparing their new friends, Olegario and Dania. Serenity, however, was sitting on the sidelines. She absentmindedly ate her stew thinking about Endymion.

'I hate him so much!' She thought angrily 'He makes me so mad! How dare he speak to me the way he does. How dare he tempt me like that! How dare he touch me! How dare he be so attractive! What right does he have?' Serenity realized on some level that she was being ridiculous. She wondered what tomorrow had in store for her.

* * *

_I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to get out but  
__I have been amazingly busy and,  
__as you can see, this is a long chapter!  
_**Thank you for reading and reviewing!!**


	4. A Moth in Disguise?

**Caught by a Butterfly**

**Rated M for Mature**

Spanish words: _Principe_ means **prince**, _Siñor_ means **Mr. /Sir  
**_Mariposa_ means **Butterfly**, _Palacio_ means **palace**.

_Buenos Dias_ means **Good morning**.

_By Sailor Josseme_

At Sunrise Serenity grudgingly woke up and looked over at the sleeping forms of her friends. 'Why do I have to get up at sunrise to tend to his Royal Annoyingness while my cousins get to sleep in?' Serenity thought angrily. She trudged over to the dresser and took out a clean white gown. She added a blue apron and tied her hair back in two long pony tails- with two large balls on top- with red cloth. Serenity plodded along the long hallways to Endymion's chamber. She knocked on the door but opened it before she heard a reply.

Serenity froze. She looked in shock at the picture before her. A woman was sitting naked on the edge of the large king sized bed while Endymion was sitting up, his lower half under the covers and his hands behind his head. He was also naked. The girl's back was bent, her arms wrapped around her knees. She was shaking slightly while Endymion had a look of annoyance on his face. Serenity gasped her eyes as wide as tennis balls. Endymion's head snapped over at her, his eyes full of shock and… regret? But it was the girl that Serenity was watching. She turned, her long black hair sweeping over her shoulder. Her big black eyes opened with fear, knowing she had been caught. It was Dania, Minako's new friend. She quickly turned away and huddled even more deeply into her knees. Serenity snapped to attention. Whatever Endymion had done could wait. Right now this girl needed her help. Serenity untied her apron and took off her dress. She stood in only her undergarments.

Endymion looked puzzled and slightly amused. "What are you doing Usagi, joining me?"

Serenity sent him a look to pure hatred before she walked over to the bed, facing Dania.

"Dania? Dania listen. Put these on. Go to my room and get me a new dress. Tell one of my friends to come back here and give it to me. You don't need to stay here any more." Dania looked up and looked right into Serenity's eyes. She had a look of disbelief. She could hardly trust that this blond angel had forgiven her, was not judging her, was giving her a way out. Serenity softly kissed the young girl's forehead and gently pushed the dress into her hands. "Go." With that Dania quickly slipped the gown on and fled the room.

Serenity looked around. Another gown lay on the ground. It was ripped to shreds. She turned her gaze to Endymion. He had a look of amusement on his face. They stared at each other for a long while. Finally Serenity looked away and started to clean up the ripped clothing on the ground.

"It's not what you think, you know." Endymion's voice was relaxed. He didn't seem at all distressed about the situation.

"I have no interest in what transpired here. Siñor." Serenity tried hard to keep the venom out of her voice. She made a mental note that when she returned to her own palacio she would hire Dania as her chamber maid.

Endymion started to feel annoyed. There was a small stirring in his chest, like a butterfly trying to emerge. He fought the need to explain the situation to his maid. But why would he want to? She's only a simple maid. She means nothing. But then why was he thinking about her when he was with Dania? Why did he call for her when he should have been saying Dania's name. 'Well what does it matter.' He thought, 'I was getting tired of sleeping with her anyway. She was getting all mushy and talking about marriage. As if I could marry a maid. But I didn't think she'd be so upset when I told her we're over, it's only been a month after all.'

Inside Serenity was fuming. 'He made her sleep with him. How appalling! Her dress is all ripped up. She must have put up a fight. I really want to go comfort her, but I can't get fired. If I do then I'll never come up with a plan to get back at this jerk. Better to just wait it out. There was a small knock at the door. When Serenity opened it Minako was standing there with a look of complete shock and distress on her face. The gown she handed Serenity was light pink and came low on her neckline. 'I suppose she just grabbed one and ran…' Minako quickly kissed Serenity on either cheek and ran back to her chamber, most likely to comfort Dania.

Serenity, with her back to the prince, pulled on the robe quickly and turned to Endymion who was still watching her small form.

"You're angry." He stated calmly, though a hint of confusion entered his voice.

"Non _Siñor_, of course not. _Buenos dias_, I hope you… slept… well." Serenity was putting on a smile but any _idiota_ could see she was livid. Endymion frowned. Serenity wished she could read his mind. 'Why is he frowning? He's so frustrating! I wish I could just yell at him…'

Endymion got out of bed. Serenity quickly covered her eyes and turned away. He was completely naked. He sauntered over to his wardrobe, grabbed a towel and left the room. "Does he always walk around naked?" Serenity wondered out loud. She proceeded to clean his room, starting with changing the sheets on the bed; a task that almost made her throw-up. Suddenly Serenity felt a wave of nausea and terror. 'What if he does to me what he did to Dania?' Serenity knew there would be nothing she could do if Endymion decided to have his way with her. The young princess continued with her task with wide eyes and a rigid back. In half an hour the room was spotless and Serenity had worked herself up to out and out terror.

oOo

Across the _palacio_ in the library Ami was, once again, neglecting her duties and pouring over Don Quixote. She sat cross-legged on the floor, hidden behind a huge couch, bent over the massive volume and biting her thumb anxiously. She had just gotten to the part where Don Quixote does battle with the windmills.

"Ahem."

Ami turned quickly to see a tall, brunette man standing above her. He had a puzzled yet amused expression on his face.

Ami was speechless. She had been caught.

"Now, as official librarian to his highness I pride myself on being very knowledgeable. However, despite all my studies, I cannot understand the scene before me." The librarian took a seat on the couch in front of Ami, who quickly stood up. He continued, "Here I find a maid reading one of the more complicated volumes in Spanish literature in my library. Now, I could understand a maid who knows how to read. Though it's rare, some maids can read simple text. However, to find a maid with the ability, not to mention the desire, to read Don Quixote, well that's quite a gem." The tall brunette was smiling openly now. Ami blushed and locked her eyes onto her feet. The librarian stood up.

"You're quite remarkable, little maid." Ami looked up at his words. Her eyes locked on to his. "My name is Gregario. I hope to see you here again." Ami's eyes widened and she quickly ran away. She ran until she was sure he was not following her. "Gre-Gregario!?" Ami half-shouted. "How could that be?"

oOo

Makoto's laughter rang through the kitchen. She had just finished preparing the salad for lunch and Olegario was launching into corny joke after corny joke. She could get used to this

oOo

Rei was so tired of sweeping. She was paying a little bit of extra attention to a certain area ofthe palacio though. A certain area where a certain knight might ride by.

oOo

Minako had a lot to deal with today. She insisted that Dania stay in bed all day. She didn't ask what happened but she knew it must have been bad. For her to have been found naked, in prince Endymion's room, sobbing her eyes out, well, that's never a good sign. Because Dania was staying in bed Minako had twice as much work to do. She was rushing down the hallway, trying to get the first load of laundry into everyone's wardrobes. She raced around the corner when- BANG! She ran right into a tall man with long brown hair.

"I am so sorry! I am so, so, so sorry! Please excuse me _Siñor_!" Minako was on her knees picking up the laundry as fast she could and didn't look up at who she had run into. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her back. She cried out in pain and writhed on the floor. Another sharp pain was delivered on lower back and again Minako cried out in agony. She was openly crying now and making a lot of noise. Another sharp pain on her back told her to be quite. She restrained herself from crying out again but lay sobbing on the ground. She could feel welts rising on her back. She looked up. A tall man with long, wavy, brown hair wearing a grey suit stood above her. He was holding a large leather whip. And wore a giant smirk. He raised the whip again to strike her. "This is for knocking into me you little wench!" Minako closed her eyes and braced herself for the strike. She had never been hit before and this pain was making her see double. A moment passed and nothing happened. She slowly opened her eyes. Another man was standing beside the tall man with the whip. He held onto the end of it and was staring into the eyes of her abuser.

**That's where I'm leaving you!  
Please Review!**


	5. Fluttering Wings and Fluttering Hearts

**Caught by a Butterfly  
****Rated M for Mature**

Spanish words: _Principe_ means **prince**, _Siñor_ means **Mr. /Sir  
**_Mariposa_ means **Butterfly**, _Palacio_ means **palace**.  
_Buenos Dias_ means **Good morning**.

oOo

Usagi had been waiting in Endymion's room for an hour and a half. She sat on his couch, anxiously waiting for, and dreading, his return. After seeing the state Dania was in Serenity was terrified of what awaited her. Of course, Endymion had not raped Dania. He was a womanizer, but he wasn't a rapist. Dania was crying in Endymion's room when Serenity came in because he'd just told her, after sleeping with her, that he didn't want to see her anymore. However, when Serenity saw Dania's naked, crying form on Endymion's bed she jumped to conclusions.

The prince entered his room quickly and without warning. Serenity stood up and arranged her skirts. She stared at her feet. The prince was still naked. '_Why_ is he always naked? _Why_!?' Serenity thought in anguish.

"You have not set any clothing out for me, little _Mariposa_." Endymion tried to act normal. He was mad at himself for allowing his little maid to believe the worst.

Serenity, her eyes glued to the floor, hurriedly scurried to his wardrobe and took out a pair of pants, a white dress shirt and his… ahem… undergarments. She handed the prince his clothing and went in search of a holster for his sword. When she came back with the black holster she finally looked up at the prince. She had to catch a gasp in her throat. Dressed in his tight black pants and loose, white, half buttoned up shirt he looked like a prince from a fairytale. She quickly averted her eyes as she handed him his holster.

"Now, _Mariposa_," The Prince began while buttoning the rest of his shirt, "I mentioned yesterday that I have a special task for you. Well at the moment I am holding interviews for the position of my wife." At that Serenity snapped her head upwards and looked in Endymion's eyes with surprise and outrage.

"I am not interested in that position, _principe._" She shot back, completely amazed that Endymion would even think to ask her to audition of the part of his wife!

Endymion laughed out loud at this. Serenity stared at him as if he'd gone mad. He was laughing at her? The nerve! But then Serenity realized that his laughter wasn't malicious. It was like the laughter of a little boy, good-natured and free.

Endymion wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "No, _Mariposa_. Although I wish I could marry someone like you, I cannot. I meant that you will be assisting me with the interviews." Serenity's face became bright red with shame. How could she assume that he wanted to marry her? And what did he mean he wished he could marry someone like her?

Endymion continued his explanation, "The woman who usually would help me is pregnant at the moment and sent in a request to leave for the month. I have not had time to find a replacement who is of the correct class so I have asked you. You are the most beautiful servant we have with us at the moment and you will easily pass for a courtier. Obviously not one of a high class, but a courtier none the less. You will go to the room three doors down from this one. There, there will be a closet full of courtier dresses and a box full of jewels. Now, everyday you will go to that room, after tending to me, get dressed in one of the dresses and put on some of the jewels. Then, everyday after the interviews you will go back to the room, change into your usual attire, put back the jewels and come to tend to me again. The jewels have been counted and if you try to steal any, you will be arrested. Do you understand?"

Serenity nodded quickly at Endymion and turned to leave. Endymion watched her leave with a look of amusement on his face. Endymion thought, 'If she were a courtier… perhaps I would be a little bit more eager to marry…'

Serenity opened the large closet in the room Endymion described. Inside were about 20 beautiful dresses. Serenity sighed as she looked through them. None were as beautiful and elaborate as hers at home. And for that she was… thankful. Serenity hated the dresses she was required to wear at home. The huge decorations always made her feel as though she was about to keel-over. She picked out a plain white gown. It matched the others in wealth because it was made of silk and satin. The bodice was form fitting and had little pearls on the line dividing her bodice from the skirt. After this line under her breast the skirt flared out. On the back was a large pink bow. The sleeves came off her shoulders and continued down to her wrists. She chose simple pearl earrings and a necklace. She looked at herself in the full-length mirror. She looked just like how she did at home only… better. Serenity liked this gown better than the gowns she had at home. They were all covered in rubies and emeralds and heavy material. This silk dress made her feel light and free. Serenity quickly fixed her hair into the high buns she always wore at home, added a couple of pearly clips and headed back to Endymion's room.

oOo

Ami stood panting in the hallway. She had just run away from the librarian. 'How could he be here? Now my cover's going to be blown for sure! Unless… he doesn't remember me…' The librarian, Gregario, had been Ami's mentor and best friend as a child. He was 4 years older than her and she'd always looked up to him. His father had been the librarian in Ami's palace. Ami's father liked him and allowed the children to play together.

When she was 9 and Gregario was 13 he had promised to marry her one day. She had told her father and he was furious. He would not stand for his little girl to be in love with a common boy. He fired Gregario's father and Ami hadn't seen her young lover since. Until now. She was sure it was the same boy. Although she hadn't seen him in 9 years he had the same strong chin and gentle eyes she's fallen in love with. Often in her dreams she imagined marrying him. Suddenly Ami heard footsteps coming around the corner. She turned and ran.

oOo

Makoto looked anxiously around the kitchen. Olegario had left half an hour ago and he wasn't back yet. And well… she missed him.

oOo

Rei was still sweeping outside. She had sort of realized what a useless job she'd been given. As soon as she swept one part of the castle it got dirty from the dust that brew in from the windows. She also realized that as long as she looked busy no one noticed her. She inched closer and closer to the training rink. There she spied the clumsy knight who'd run into her yesterday: Chad.

He was riding a horse and was fighting another man with a sword. Rei knew this was only training, but she hoped that he wouldn't get hurt. He was so clumsy, it seemed inevitable that he would be injured. Chad surprised her though. Although he was clumsy most of the time, when he was fighting on that horse he seemed grounded, secure and stable. Rei watched for a while longer. Chad actually ended up beating the other knight. When he did Rei cheered and clapped. Hearing this Chad turned at smiled confusedly at her. The other knights started to laugh and Rei realized her faux-pas and quickly turned away. She quickly walked back towards the courtyard.

She heard someone jogging behind her but didn't turn around. Even when she heard a man call her name she didn't turn around. Finally Chad caught up to her and stood in front of the disguised princess. "Rei… I…" Chad was out of breath, it isn't easy to run in heavy knight's armor. Rei looked to the ground.

"I'm sorry I embarrassed you. I just.. got caught up in the fight." Rei was blushing like crazy.

Chad hooked his thumb under her chin and guided her face upwards. He looked into her eyes. "Don't apologize." He said gently. He grabbed her hand, kissed it softly and ran back to the arena. Rei was staring dumb-founded at her hand. "Wow." She said out loud.

oOo

Minako looked up into the eyes of her savior. He stood holding the whip that the first man was going to hit her with again. The pain in the back was almost causing her to black out.

"Nephrite, may I ask why you are whipping this young girl?"

"My… my lord…she ran into me! She had no respect for my station!"

"And what, may I ask, is your station?" The second man's eyes were full of fire. Minako's vision was going blurry but she thought she could actually see flames crackle and pop in the man's eyes.

"I… I am a general in this _palacio_."

"No you scum. You are not a general. That is only the title you gave yourself. You are a discipliner. You may strike a servant when they steal goods, are rude to the prince, or give away information to warring nations. Not when young maidens run into you. Now go. And never let me catch you striking maidens ever again." Nephrite quickly walked away. Minako's savior bent down to her.

"What is your name, Maiden?"

"…my… name… is… Minako" She painfully replied to the man standing before her. He had gentle blue eyes and sandy blond hair.

"My name is Andres. May I help you up?" Minako nodded her head slowly. Andres tried to guide her up but found that she couldn't walk.

"Alright then, I'll just have to carry you." Minako gasped. She'd never been so close to a man before. Andres picked her up bridal style, and walked down the hall way. Minako's head rested on his shoulder. One of his arms was slightly touching one of the cuts from the whip. Minako held back her cries. She felt like a knife had shred up her back. Silently Minako passed out, and the world went black.

Minako woke up in a strange room. She was lying on her stomach on a huge bed. She tried to sit up, but the pain in her back returned in a flood of pain. With a groan, she lay back down.

"Oh good, you're awake," Andres walked into the room holding some cloths. "You really worried me. You were unconscious for 15 minutes. I hope you don't mind; I treated your cuts." Minako suddenly realized something. She wasn't wearing the top half of her gown. It was pulled down to her hips. Around her bodice was medical tape and gauze. Minako's face went bright red. She tried to pull her gown up and was surprised when Andres came to help her. "I'm sorry I had to undress you, but it was the only way I could tend you your wounds. He really hit you very hard. I set another servant to do your duties. For today you're free. I used to help a doctor." Andres was speaking rapidly. Even he looked a little uncomfortable. "Endymion brought me here for the summer. My parents didn't like me helping out with the medicine man. It's not really the duty of a Prince is it?"

Minako's head snapped around, "Prince?!" She asked incredulously.

"Yes, well, I am the prince of France… I hope you don't think to badly of me now." Minako laughed. The French did have quite a reputation. Minako wondered how she had never met this prince, being a princess herself. Then she realized that as a friend to Endymion he would be at whatever function he was at and, as a rule, Minako never went a function Endymion attended for Rei's sake.

"Allow me to escort you to your chamber, Maiden. I'm afraid you won't be allowed to rest on my bed all night. Endymion is surprisingly strict about that." Andres said smiling and helped Minako up. He put a strong arm around her waist and another held her arm. Together they hobbled around the castle to Minako's chamber. Minako suddenly regretted missing so many balls. She could have met this wonderful man.

**That's all! Sorry it took so long to get out! My exams are coming up so the next one might not be for another couple of weeks as well. Thank you for reading!**

**Please Review!**


	6. The Moths Appear

**Caught by a Butterfly  
****Rated M for Mature  
**Spanish words: _Principe_ means **prince**, _Siñor_ means **Mr. /Sir  
**_Mariposa_ means **Butterfly**, _Palacio_ means **palace**.  
_Buenos Dias_ means **Good morning**.

**Author's Note**: Please remember that although Endymion calls Serenity _Mariposa_ most of the time he thinks her real name is Usagi (established in chapter 3 I believe).

oOo

Endymion paced his room waiting for his Mariposa. "Where is that Usagi girl? How long does it take to dress oneself?" he asked the walls of his enormous bed-chamber. Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Endymion said in exasperation.

The door opened and a beautiful blond countess stood in the doorway. Endymion looked her up and down. 'When did such a beautiful courtier arrive?' he thought perplexedly.

"Signora, what a pleasure it is to have you with us. But, as much as I love the company of a beautiful girl, what is your purpose in my bedchambers?"

Serenity was not amused. She stood in the doorway, her knee slightly bent with her hand on her hip.

"Principe, you know why I am here. You wish to choose a bride… remember?"

'This little beauty is very forward isn't she?' thought the confused prince. "Well, I have not seen the other applicants but I agree! You are the woman I wish to make my wife."

"Principe! Are you being serious? I am only a servant, you cannot marry me!" Serenity was getting very annoyed.

"Us-Usagi? Mariposa? Is that you?" Endymion sputtered. He felt his cheeks redden. He quickly turned around. "I knew it was you little one. I was only playing. Obviously I would never marry the likes of you."

Serenity secretly wanted to throw-up. Marry this excuse of a ruler? She would rather be hanged. This maniac who rapes servants and interviews women to be his bride instead of getting to know them? That was not the kind of man Serenity wished to spend a day with, let alone the rest of her life.

"Well?" Serenity asked, "Are we going to start interviewing now?"

Endymion quickly turned around. He looked over Serenity once more. Her white dress accentuated her small but lush breasts, her tiny waist and her long lithe legs. Her hair was done up in two buns on either side of her head with long tendrils that came to her ankles. Her arms were covered with the lacy material of her gown but her chest was bare and she wore a simple string of pearls and little pearl earrings. Endymion was almost surprised by her appearance. Firstly by her outstanding beauty, and secondly by her simple choices in clothing. When he fooled around with role-playing games with his 'conquests' the servant girls always chose to wear the most expensive and lavish gowns and jewelry. This little servant, however, chose the most simple gown and garnishes available. Of course they matched the others in wealth, but no simple girl would know that. Endymion began to question the simplicity of his young maid.

"Yes." Endymion stated calmly. "Let us proceed to the Library, that's where the interviews will be held.

Serenity followed closely behind the prince. She felt very comfortable slipping back into her courtly ways. She walked with ease in her gown and stood up straight. Endymion was walking quickly and Serenity had to quicken her pace to keep up. 'He must be eager to meet the women he is interviewing.' Serenity thought in disgust. In fact, Endymion was simply nervous. He didn't want to be forced to marry. But he needed to keep the thrown. If his uncle, Don Alfonzo, took over… He cringed to think what would become of the kingdom. His uncle was a greedy man. He was Don of a large province and many of his citizens starved. Endymion often had tried to step in and help the people, but Don Alfonzo always found ways of stopping him. Endymion was sure that it was his uncle who convinced his dieing father to write in his will that he must marry by his 23rd birthday. That date was fast approaching. Already 2 days had gone by since his council's announcement. He had 28 days left.

The Prince and disguised Princess arrived at the library. 'Ami's working here, isn't she? I hope she doesn't blow my cover…' Serenity thought to herself.

oOo

After calming down a little Ami made her way back to the library. Gregario was nowhere to be seen, but Ami was being cautious. There's no way she was going to risk running into him now. If he found out who she was… well who knows what would happen. Ami's mother and father thought that all the girls were staying at Rei's Palacio. Only Reila, Rei's mother, knew the whole truth; and she was sworn to secrecy. Suddenly the doors of the library burst open and Makoto came running in.

"Mako, what on earth are you doing? Why aren't you in the kitchen?" Ami asked her frantic sister.

"Ami, you haven't seen a tall man with brown curly hair anywhere have you? His name is Olegario. I don't know what's going on. These men came into the kitchen asking for him. I just don't understand." Makoto was on her knees sobbing into her hands. "They were so frightening. They were dressed in matching grey suits. One was even holding a whip. I don't know why they're after Olegario. But I'm so scared! Ami you have to help me!"

Just as Makoto ended her rant Minako limped into the library.

"Oh Ami, I'm so glad you're here. You wouldn't believe what just happened to me. But please let me lie down first. My back hurts so much. Oh Ami! It was awful. This man in a grey suit whipped me! He was one of the generals I told you guys about. Oh Ami, please help me sit down." Minako was looking straight at the ground because her back was so bent in pain. When she left Andres she hadn't wanted to stay in the maid's chambers all on her own while her friends were working so she went to lie in the library and keep Ami company. Ami looked quickly from her sister to her cousin. They both seemed to be in so much pain. Suddenly Minako noticed Makoto crumpled on the floor.

"Mako… what's wrong with her, Ami?"

Ami sighed. So much to explain. 'Okay Ami. You can do this. Just get them comfortable on the couches away from other people, avoid Gregario and somehow manage to clean the library. You can do this!' Ami gave herself a little pep talk in her head before setting about righting everything. She took a deep breath and began. She hurried over to Minako and laid her out on the couch, calmly explaining that Makoto would tell her everything when she feels fit. Next she moved over to Mako and helped her up. She walked her over to Minako's couch and sat her down next to her blond cousin. She quickly scanned the library and luckily Gregario was no-where to be seen.

'Great!' She thought, 'Maybe now I can actually get some cleaning done!' No such luck.

Just then an angry Rei burst in though the beautiful library doors. She was fuming. Ami could practically see the fire burning in her eyes.

"The nerve! What makes people think it's alright to tell someone who they can and cannot speak to!" Rei was shouting angrily at Ami who was trying to indicate that in libraries one uses one's indoor voice. Ami calmed her down and sat her on the couch across from Minako and Makoto. When Rei had calmed down a little she explained what she had meant.

"Well I was just sweeping the courtyard and minding my own business when I felt someone grab onto my waist. I quickly turned around to hit the wretch who would dare to touch me, but the person I saw frightened me more than I would like to say. He had these awful blue eyes and white hair that came to his waist. He wore this grey suit that looked like a uniform. He held onto me and whispered in my ear. He told me that 'A wench like me has no right to speak to a knight of the prince and that if I don't leave him alone I would be punished. Then he… well he licked my ear. I was just about ready to hit him but he was holding my wrists behind my back. Then he shoved me to the ground and left me. Then I came here. Isn't that awful?" Rei looked around into the sympathetic eyes of her cousins. Then she noticed that something was wrong. With all her ranting she hadn't noticed the red puffy eyes of Makoto and Minako. Also now she noticed that Minako's dress was ripped in multiple placed on her back. Under the rips were white bandages. Rei's eyes widened. "What-What happened? Why is everyone here? Minako, what happened to your back?"

Minako looked away. "One of the generals whipped me. Your harasser was probably a general too. There are 4 of them and they all wear grey suits. They also went into Makoto's kitchen and scared her. I don't like this, girls. I think something bad is happened."

The girls looked from one to other, nodding their heads.

"You three stay for as long as you need. The generals haven't come in here yet, so maybe they don't like books."

Just as Ami said that the doors opened with a bang. All four girls stiffened, expecting to see the grey suits of the generals before them. However, what they saw was even more shocking. They saw Prince Endymion escorted by Serenity. Only it was the Serenity from back home. The princess who radiated confidence and luxury. Why was she dressed up like that? The girls saw her eyes widen as she saw all four of them huddled in the corner of the library. She turned to the prince and whispered something in his ear. He looked over to the girls, frowned, looked back at Serenity and nodded his head. The young princess scurried over to her sister and cousins.

"WELL?" They asked in unison.

"Why are you dressed up?" Rei asked, looking a little suspicious.

"Okay, this is a little complicated." Serenity took a deep breath, "You see Endymion has to get married by the end of the month so he's holding interviews for the position of his bride, which I find disgusting, and he's assigned me to help him because the countess who was going to help had to leave because she's with child so I have to pretend to be a countess so I would be a high enough status to do this type of task." Serenity took a breath, "So now I'm a princess pretending to be a servant pretending to be a countess. And Endymion is a wretch, have a mentioned that?"

"When," Rei asked, "did you start calling Prince Endymion by his first name?" Her lips were pursed and she looked at Serenity with cold eyes. Serenity looked taken aback. She hadn't even thought about how she was addressing the prince. The other girls all looked at the floor nervously.

"Mariposa! We don't have all day. You have to let the first girl in." Endymion called over to Serenity.

"I- I have to go. I'm… sorry. I have to go." Serenity scurried over to the doors to the let the first candidate in. The other princesses watched her anxiously.

**Okay, end of chapter 6. I don't know how long this is going to be, by the way. Please review! It means so much! And I hope you all liked the story!**


	7. A Busy Butterfly?

**Caught by a Butterfly  
Rated M for Mature  
**Spanish words: _Principe_ means **prince**, _Siñor_ means **Mr. /Sir  
**_Mariposa_ means **Butterfly**, _Palacio_ means **palace**. _Perdón _means **pardon**.

oOo

"Well, _Siñor_, I am such a caring woman that when you are sick I would sit by your bed all day and make sure the cook made all your favorite foods for you to eat." T he brunette with the perfect smile flashed her pearly-whites at Endymion and Serenity. Serenity sank further back into her chair. This was the fifteenth candidate she'd seen today, and luckily the last. For today.

"Thank you very much, _Si__ñ__orita_ Holguín." Endymion broke into the speech he gave all the candidates, "Please, make yourself comfortable in the sweet we prepared for you. I hope you enjoy your stay in my humble _palacio_. There will be a ball in 27 days, my decision will be announced then. Thank you again."

As _Si__ñori__ta_ Holguín bounced out of the room Endymion and Serenity both sighed and put their heads in the hands. The two of them had been interviewing for 6 hours now. It was dinner time and Endymion had to dine with all the candidates. There were still 30 candidates left to interview. That would take 2 more days. Then after that Serenity had to act as Endymion's chaperone as he would meet with each of them and speak in more comfortable situations. Then Serenity's main job was to prepare for the ball. She didn't know why Endymion would trust someone he thought was a servant to do such an important task… but maybe he didn't actually care how well done it was. Well she would prove him wrong. She would make the ball the most beautiful occasion in anyone's memory.

"Eat dinner with me tonight Mariposa." Endymion stood and started to walk away. Serenity's eyes opened wide. She had never eaten dinner with any of her servants before. Why was Endymion acting like this towards her?

"_Perdón_?" Serenity asked perplexedly. Endymion stopped walking.

"As my 'chaperone' you would be expected to eat dinner with me and my 'potential wives'." He turned around to face the young princess, "Please come. I need some relief from their chattering." Endymion's face looked sincere so Serenity slowly nodded her head. Endymion smiled and held out his hand to her. Serenity took it hesitantly as he guided her to standing.

"Thank you." The prince whispered.

oOo

"How long are these interviews going to take?" Rei asked, lying on her bed.

"Did you see how she looked walking with him?" Minako asked, leaning on the wall, "She looked… nervous. When has our Serenity ever looked nervous? And how can she be so close to him after what happened to Dania? I feel like I don't know my own sister!" Minako flopped onto the bed next to Rei.

"Well, we'll see her at dinner. We can talk to her about our concerns then. And after dinner Makoto will be back from preparing the feast and we can all talk together about the generals." Ami tried to believe what she had just said. She had noticed something more than nervousness in her cousin's eyes.

oOo

"Andres, this is the girl I spoke of: my 'chaperone'." Endymion introduced Serenity to his friend, Prince Andres.

"Does he know?" Serenity asked Endymion quietly.

"Yes, yes. He was the one who came up with the plan actually. Andres is my best friend. We've know each other since we were children."

"I could beat you then and I can beat you now!" Andres stated playfully.

"Oh really? Do you wish to test that theory?" The two boys started good-naturedly fighting each other. The three of them were standing in the lounge, a room attached to the dining room. Serenity looked at Endymion in a new light. Was this really the man who raped a young woman? Could this playful and smiling man really be that cruel? Serenity shook her head. She knew what she knew. Just because he was nice to his friend… and never tried anything with her… and smiled so warmly… what was she trying to prove?

Just then the butler came into the lounge and announced that dinner was ready. Endymion sighed. "Well, I think about 45 noble-women from around the globe are waiting for me. _Mariposa_?" Endymion offered his arm to the disguised princess. She took it with a blush. Andres watched as they made their way into the dining room.

"Hum…" He thought out loud, "Maybe this was a better plan than I could have ever imagined…"

Inside the enormous dining hall were 45 expectant, and almost identical, ladies who all fell silent when Endymion entered the room. Serenity expected they stopped talking so they could all show-off their perfect, and rehearsed, smiles. Serenity rolled her eyes. She was glad she was not among their numbers. Endymion sat at the head of the table, Andres at his left and Serenity at his right. The food was brought out on platters. 'Now this is more like it!' Serenity thought as plates and plates of food were brought onto the table. She'd only been eating servant food for 2 days but she'd really grown to appreciate the wonders of her every-day food.

"So, _Principe_," Serenity started.

"Please," The prince said, cutting in, "Call me Endymion. Being called prince everyday makes me feel too formal. Please try to feel comfortable around me, _Mariposa_."

Serenity blushed so much she thought her feet would turn red. Every single woman around that table heard Endymion call her by her pet-name. The damsels were all staring at her, wide-eyed. Serenity wishes she could just die. Endymion didn't seem to take any notice of all the attention he's attracted to his young 'countess'. Suddenly Serenity felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around at looked into the green eyes of her cousin, Makoto.

"Countess, there is a messenger waiting for you in the foyer. He says it is urgent."

Serenity could see that her cousin was lying, but played along.

"Oh, _Principe_! Would you forgive me if I left your beautiful meal? It could me a message from my father."

Endymion looked confused, knowing that this all had to be a charade but waved his hand, allowing for her to leave.

Once Makoto had pulled Serenity out of the dining hall and were out of ear-shot of anyone she turned on the blond princess. "Serenity! Do you not understand what's going on right now? You are falling for that wretch!"

Serenity yanked her arm out of Makoto's clutches. "I am not! I'm doing my job! I'm trying to find something we can use against him! I swear I am! He sleeps with servants okay, that's all I have so far. He has a selfish uncle who wants to be king, though. If we ruin him then the uncle will take the throne! That will hurt all of Spain. I want him to suffer as much as anyone, but we can't do anything that will loose him the throne! Understood? He's not a bad person. Yes, he's obnoxious and controlling and selfish. But he wants to do what's best for Spain! And so do I. He's not a bad man. Except for what he did to Dania, what crimes has he committed? All we have against him are the crimes of his father. If we blamed everyone for their parents' actions we would all be damned! "

Makoto looked into her friend's eyes. "Then why are we here Ser… if we aren't going to do anything to him then why are we still here."

"Because we have work left to do. I still need to plan this whole ball. And I can have a lot of influence here. Endymion… Prince Endymion, trusts me. I can choose the best queen for Spain. I'll make sure she'll lead Endy- Prince Endymion in the right direction."

Makoto couldn't help noticing her continuous slip ups with the prince's title, but chose to ignore them. "Promise me one thing, Serenity. Promise me you won't sleep with him. We all vowed to never allow any man into our beds until our wedding day. Now I want you to make a special promise only to me. Promise me you will not sleep with him and you will keep your virginity for your wedding."

Serenity thought that this was a silly promise to force her to make, but she promised anyways. The cousins hugged and started to chat about Olegario, Makoto's kitchen friend.

"So he had been gone all morning and I was really wondering where he'd gotten to. Then the generals came in and-"

"Wait, who?" Serenity cut her off.

"The generals. You mean we haven't told you about them?" Makoto went on to explain about each of their experiences with the horrible men.

"Oh! Poor Minako! Why didn't my sister tell me?"

"Well… You haven't really been around Serenity." Makoto looked at the tiled floor.

"Well I'll make up for it now. I'll find out all about them. I had better get back to dinner before they send out a search party." They hugged goodbye and Serenity headed back to the dining hall. She quietly slipped into her chair, noticing that a few of the girls had left already. Only about 30 remained. "Thirty too many" Serenity muttered to herself.

"Did you say something, Mariposa?" Endymion asked, startling her.

"Oh… no! Just, well, talking to myself." Serenity blushed. Endymion smiled. Andres watched. 'When has Endymion ever smiled at a woman like that?' he thought mischievously.

One of the women at the table glowered at the young blond while the other women were talking amongst themselves. The woman had voluminous red hair. Her gown was purple and her eyes were the color of blood. Her sharp but beautiful features were pulled into a frown. Her name was Beryl.

oOo

"Nephrite! Why did you have to whip that girl? Now Prince Andres has it in for you!"

"Shut up Jadeite! How was I meant to know the stupid French pig had a soft-spot for worthless servants." The four generals were gathered in their quarters. They were bickering amongst themselves

"Servants, huh?" A voice came from the doorway. "I would have expected my minions would have discovered more than that. Those 5 girls who have suddenly appeared in the _palacio_ are not servants. Oh no. Those girls are princesses. And my biggest threat. Destroy them." Beryl glared at her minions as they nodded their consent.

oOo

Over the next 3 weeks Serenity found herself to be very busy. She spent most of her days planning the royal ball. She had the same routine every day. She woke up, ate breakfast, set out clothes for the prince, got dressed in a gown from the chamber next to the prince's, met with the prince and one of the 'future wives', planned the ball, ate lunch with the Prince, met with another potential wife, planned some more, ate dinner with the prince and all the 'future wives' and then she finally got time with her cousins and sister before going to sleep.

The other girls were noticing a change in their little Serenity. She seemed to only talk about the possible candidates for queen. And she didn't seem to like any of them. The girls would have been more annoyed if they hadn't been talking about their respective men every time Serenity took a breath. Rei couldn't stop talking about what a wonderful fighter Chad was, and how manly and how strong. Ami was a little quieter but she would often talk about her narrow escapes from Gregario who she's managed to avoid for 3 weeks now. Minako seemed to take every opportunity to 'run into' Andres. Every time she ran into him (luckily not literally) she managed to find a way to make him talk to her for a good ten minutes. Of course Andres enjoyed talking to his little damsel as well, but Minako was obsessing over whether he was getting annoyed with her. Makoto was the quietest of all the girls. Olegario hadn't been seen since his disappearance only three days into their stay. Makoto worried constantly about what might have happened to him.

And of course they talked about the generals. They hadn't made contact with them for three weeks now, but the girls were still worried. They seemed to always be around though. The girls would look up from cleaning something and they would see one of them out of the corner of their eyes. They were getting very scared.

On a happier note, Serenity managed to convince the girls to go to the ball as courtiers. Minako could easily sneak away a few gowns from the 45 girls' laundry she had to do. They would be so made up that no one would recognize them. And they planned to leave after the ball anyway. Serenity had a long talk with Rei two weeks into their stay in the place:

_"Rei, he's not a bad man. I've spent a lot of time with him. He's not a kind man but he's passionate about Spain. I don't think we should ruin his chances of being king. I've been asking around about his uncle and everyone agrees that he'd be an awful king. Please understand Rei, we can't avenge your mother. Endymion's father, Endyrio, is dead. He's gone. Lets just forget about the whole thing. Please Rei, perhaps if you speak with him he'd clear your name!" Rei sat in silence for a long time._

_"Okay." She said._

_"Really!" Serenity could hardly believe it. She gave Rei a huge hug. "We'll leave after the ball okay? We can tell everyone about the whole charade there and we can all just start anew. I'm sure that everyone will forgive each other."_

Serenity was radiant. She looked forward so much to the ball. Then she would finally be able to tell Endymion that she's a princess. She fantasized about the ball over and over. Endymion said that since everyone still thought that she was a countess she would have to have a gown specially made just for her. Which made her ecstatic. The ball was a costume party of course. All the gentlemen of the county would be there, to pick up the devastated women when Endymion didn't choose them.

Over the past three weeks Endymion and Serenity had become a lot closer. They shared jokes and he talked a lot about his childhood with Andres. They had some of the craziest times together. Serenity never found any more women in Endymion's bed in the morning. She began to doubt more and more her assumption that Dania had been raped. There were a dozen reasons why she could have been crying… on his bed… naked… Serenity tried to forget about it. But it nagged at her.

Today she knew she couldn't take it anymore. The ball, and the end of her stay, was only 5 days away. She had to know now. The pair were sitting by the fire. Serenity had finished her preparations early and Endymion asked her to join him in having a glass of wine. They were laughing about the silly prospective wife today, Pilar, who'd boasted about the number of children her mother, grandmother and even great-grandmother had had.

"Well Endy, if you ever want 20 children you know who to pick!" Serenity laughed. Endymion had been called Endy by Andres for years. Serenity was the only other one he'd ever allowed to address him that way.

Endymion joined in her laughter. "And how many children did your mother bear, Usagi?"

'Usagi?' Serenity thought, 'Usually he called me Mariposa…'

"Well," she replied, "There's me, my sister Minako and my brother Antonio. Minako was first, then me a year later and little Antonio was two years after me. Then my father died. I was six."

"I'm sorry, Mariposa." Endymion actually looked like her felt sorry for the little butterfly.

"Your highness," Serenity said seriously, "I need to ask you something. It is out of my station… although I know a lot of what I have done is not in the station of a servant, but… well that morning on my first week… What had happened with Dania? She left the next day. None of us have heard from her since."

Endymion stiffened. He looked as though he was about to ask Serenity to leave. Then suddenly he relaxed and sank back into his chair. He poured himself another glass of wine, drank half of it and sighed. "Well," he began, "Dania was the last of many servants I have slept with. Since I was 18 I have slept with all the attractive maids, cooks helpers and assistants that have come through this palacio." Serenity tried not to look hurt that he'd never tried anything with her. Sometimes she would see him looking at her for too long, but he'd never touched her. Not that Serenity wanted him to. She was just hurt that she was not considered an attractive servant. "You see, my father always forbade me from starting a relationship with a woman. He wanted to choose my wife for me. So I rebelled by sleeping with almost all the servants and most of the courtiers. Dania was different. She was delicate. I kept her longer than I had most of my conquests. She stayed with me for a month and a half. But I didn't love her. Then you and your friends arrived. Suddenly I didn't wish to lead her on anymore. She expected marriage one day and that wasn't something I could offer. A crowned prince marrying a servant? It's unthinkable. The day you came in, well I had just told her that I didn't want to see her anymore. I even slept with her first. That's how corrupt I am. I would steal her innocence and even shove it in her face one last time before sending her off. Now you know the worst of me, Usagi, do you still wish to share your evenings with me?"

Serenity stared into the fire. Endymion had been so honest. But all those women… since he was 18… he was almost 23 now… that could be a hundred women, easily! "How many?" Serenity asked, her eyes never leaving the fire.

"How many?" Endymion didn't know what Serenity was referring to.

"How many women?"

"I haven't counted."

"Don't lie."

"Sixty Four. But I'm trying to be honest with you Usagi. I want you to trust me."

"Why? I'm only a servant." Serenity stood and walked briskly out the door.

"Don't lie." Endymion replied under his breath.

oOo

**Ah ha! That's where I'm leaving you. I kinda skipped way ahead in this chapter. So this means there's only 5 days left until the ball!  
****And I still have a few surprised in store.  
****Oh and what do you think Endymion means by 'Don't lie." ??  
****Please review!**

oOo


	8. Broken Wings

**Caught by a Butterfly  
Rated M for Mature  
**Spanish words: _Principe_ means **prince**, _Siñor_ means **Mr. /Sir  
**_Mariposa_ means **Butterfly**, _Palacio_ means **palace**. _Perdón _means **pardon**.

oOo

The next few days continued as the previous. Serenity acted as normally as possible towards Endymion. He wasn't stupid, he noticed that everything Serenity said to him was, well, polite. It wasn't nice or playful or mean or sarcastic or teasing. It was simply polite. Endymion tried his hardest to get reactions from Serenity. He would tease her, try to embarrass her, anything. Serenity did not budge. She became like all the women Endymion interviewed everyday. Polite, but not interesting. He was beginning to loose hope.

Three days before the ball he managed to convince the young princess to sit with him by the fire one evening and make a final decision about which candidate he would choose.

"I thought that only two candidates really stood-out for me." Endymion concluded. "Princess Ana who is my fourth cousin and Countess Beryl who I've known for many years. All of the others seem completely useless."

Serenity nodded, pretending not to care. "Well, they are both very beautiful."

Endymion frowned, "That's not why they were my choices, Usagi. They seem right for the job. My people would respect them. Ana is very beautiful though. She has that long chestnut hair and rosy features. She would look very good standing at my side. Also she seems very smart. I would have no reservations from telling her every last detail about the court."

"Then marry her." Serenity's face was a stone. Endymion frowned again.

"It's not that simple. Although Ana is beautiful and intelligent, I don't think she is powerful enough. Beryl reeks of power. She seems to control most of the other candidates as it is."

Serenity broke her vow to be distant and turned on the prince, "Is this all you care about!? What about their hearts? Are they good people? Will they love you? Or your children? You should think about who she is! Not what. Don't choose a women because of how others will feel about her." The princess was screaming now. She stood up and towered over the sitting prince. "Be true to your own heart because you deserve to marry someone who loves you!" Serenity clapped a hand over her mouth. Had she really just told the prince all that? She expected Endymion to lash out at her. She deserved to be punished after speaking to the prince of Spain that way, especially when it was believed that she was a servant.

What Endymion did shocked her more than anything. He slowly stood up, took hold of the hand on the young girl's mouth and replaced it with his own lips. Serenity's eyes opened wider than dinner plates. Then her lips started to respond to the prince's smooth, warm mouth. The kiss started out slowly and softly. Then it grew more urgent. Endymion's hands found Serenity's waist and he pulled her slight, petite body into his. Their legs were rubbing against each other. Endymion took hold of her thighs and hoisted her up so her legs were wrapped around his waist. Serenity's hands were deep into the prince's hair as he attacked her lips with vigor. Serenity was in heaven. The feel of his lips mashing into hers, his warm body against her, she was almost losing consciousness. Endymion ran his tongue along her bottom lip. Serenity shivered but opened her mouth to allow Endymion entrance. The prince's hands were grabbing Serenity's gown even more tightly. Their tongues were dancing together.

Endymion was more shocked than Serenity. He had not intended to kiss the young princess, but something took over when he saw her getting all worked up. He knew that this was what he wanted. To be kissing his dear sweet Mariposa forever.

'This is what I wanted.' Serenity thought, 'I've always wanted to be his and only his. He will be my one and only.' She kissed him harder. He responded by pulling his lips away. Serenity looked hurt. She missed the heat of his mouth on hers. But after looking into his eyes she could see that he did not intend for this to stop.

Endymion was breathing hard, "Mariposa, please come to my bedroom. I want to continue, but this is not the place to do so. Go freshen up and I will see you there in 10 minutes." He dropped his star-struck lover on the couch, leaned in to give her one last bone-melting kiss and hurried away. Serenity lay on the couch in ecstasy. "I will be his one and only… we will be married and everything will be perfect!" She said out loud.

"You're wrong." A voice emerged from the shadows on the far side of the room.

"Who goes there!?" Serenity sat up, alarmed. If it was a general she was done for. From the shadows a woman stepped forward. "Beryl?" Serenity gasped, 'Was she there the whole time?'

"I saw everything." The tall red-head stated, as if reading her thoughts.

"Please don't tell anyone!" Serenity pleaded, "I know you wish to marry him, but we're in love!"

"Are you? I don't remember hearing him say that." Beryl smirked. Serenity's face went blank.

"You're… you're right. Why would he love me… He thinks I'm a servant…" Serenity gasped, realizing her mistake.

"Don't worry princess, I know the whole story. You are Princess Serenity. You and your cousins are here disguised as servants and then Endymion had you dress as a courtier. Don't think it didn't take me a while to figure out all the details. However perhaps that sleazy servant vendor, Adolfo, wasn't the best person to trust with your secret. His price for information really wasn't very high. Especially after my lovely generals had a few words with him." The voices of laughing men filled the room. Four men wearing grey suits came in through the large double-doors. Serenity's eyes got even wider.

"Allow me to introduce my little minions to you. This is Jadeite." A man with short blond hair stepped forward. "He is known for getting people to tell him anything he likes." Jadeite smiled cruelly and gazed at his mistress.

"I believe your sister has already had a run-in with my second general, Nephrite." The tall brunette cracked his whip menacingly. "His whip can tear skin from bone. You're lucky he went easy on little Minako." Nephrite smirked and cracked his whip again.

"And here are my top investigators, Zoisite and Kunzite." An effeminate man holding the hand of a man with long white hair smiled while his partner glared.

"I hired them to infiltrate the palace a year ago when I heard about Endyrio's will. I knew that I needed to keep tabs on my prince. Now, Princess, I'm sure you are aware that you are not the first servant-girl Endymion has lusted after. You mean nothing to him. Leave. Or your sister might have a little accident." Nephrite smiled evilly he cracked his whip; Serenity could feel goose bumps rising on her arms.

"I'll go. Let me go fetch my sister and my cousins. Then we'll all leave."

"Good girl. Now I promise to keep your little secret, as long as you never step foot in this palace again."

Serenity fled from the room with tears streaming down her face.

"My Queen, what will you do if she comes back?" Zoisite asked quietly.

Beryl smiled. "Remember Endyrio? Well lets just say, his death wasn't completely accidental."

oOo

Serenity fell onto her bed crying wildly. The other girls were already gathered in their room. They were shocked to see their Serenity like this.

"Sere! What happened!" Minako was panicking, what on Earth would make her sister act this way?

"I…I" Serenity was sobbing, "We… We… ha…ha-have to leave. Right-t now" She spoke through gasps. The girls looked at each other and nodded. They packed quickly.

"I have a lot of money with me" Rei whispered to the crying princess, "We can get a carriage all the way to your _palacio_. We'll stay there for a while, okay? It should only take us a few hours to get there. We'll leave in half an hour, will that be okay?" Rei was trying to be soothing but her words only made Serenity cry harder. She was leaving. She was really leaving. Would she ever see her beautiful prince again?

oOo

Endymion looked at the rose petals he'd scattered around his room half an hour ago. He had lit dozens of candles and found almost of hundred roses to decorate his room while he awaited his little butterfly. But she wasn't coming. He slowly went around the room, blowing out all the candles. He lay on his bed. No one saw him crying.

oOo

**DUN DUN DUN! I know, short chapter.  
****But I'm off vacationing in NYC tomorrow (YAY) and I wanted to get one out before I left. Also I'm super busy when I get back because I'll go strait into working at a day-camp for the rest of the summer. But I'll still write at night. But the chapters will most likely come out on weekends or something. Well, I hope you liked it! There's only one or two chapters left. Thanks for reading and please **_**Review!!**_


	9. A Butterfly Ball

**A/N:**_ Hello! NYC was GORGEOUS for all those who asked, and sorry _

_this has taken so long. Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers!_

**Caught by a Butterfly****  
Rated M for Mature**

It was the day of the ball. Serenity knew that back at the prince's _palacio_ the servants would be decorating like crazy, trying to follow her plans without her direction. Serenity closed her eyes. She was lying on her bed at home. Her cousins had stayed with her since their return. Right now they were off doing something together. Serenity hardly cared what. All she wanted to do was sleep…

* * *

Endymion was in bad shape as well. The ball where he would have to announce his bride was tonight. Then tomorrow would be the small wedding in the palacio's chapel. It was customary for a prince to have a large ceremony for his wedding, but Endymion was sickened with this huge ball, what more could a princess want? All the families of the candidates would be there. As would many young men of Endymion's court to heal the broken hearts of the rejected princesses. But the prince's heart wasn't in any of this. It was somewhere else… with a little butterfly.

* * *

"Well, my lovelies, everything is going perfectly!" Beryl boasted to her generals. They were standing modestly with their backs to their queen as she was fitted into her fox outfit. Beryl looked at herself in the full-length mirror. Her hair was pulled away from her face but it was loose at the back. Her dress had transparent tan-tinted sleeves and a fur lined bodice. The skirt was tight against her legs and had embroidered brown swirls on it. She wore a pair of fox-ears on her head and had a reddish fur-lined fox mask.

"Well?" she said turning around, "How do I look boys?"

"Absolutly stunning!"

"The prince would be an idiot not to choose you, my lady."

"You look remarkable!"

"Oh shut up." Beryl replied, though she was very pleased with herself. "Now as long as that brat doesn't show up everything will go as I planned."

* * *

"Serenity… wake up Serenity… You need to wake up now…" Rei was trying in vain to awaken the young princess. Serenity simply swatted her cousin and turned over.

"Serenity! If you don't wake up this instant I will rip those meatballs off your head!!"

Serenity knew not to mess with Rei when she got like this. She meekly sat up and turned to look at her cousin. "Well? Is there something you want Rei?"

Rei smiled. "Actually, you're about to get kidnapped!"

Serenity cocked an eye-brow. "What are you talking about?" she asked but was cut off before she could finish her sentence. Three pairs of hands grabbed her and carried her into her bathroom while Rei held open the door.

"GIRLS! Get OFF of me!" Ami, Makoto and Minako were holding her down on the bathroom floor tearing of her bedclothes. Finally Serenity was undressed and they threw her into the bathtub that was already filled with perfumed water.

Sputtering, Serenity glared at her cousins and sister. "What is the meaning of this?!"

Minako was the first to step forward. "Serenity, we know something happened with Endymion that made you leave. You won't talk to us about it and that's fine. But you love him. We've all realized that. And we've decided that if you love him there must be something honorable about him. So, we've decided that we're all going to that ball tonight as we planned. We'll all have masks on so maybe no one will recognize us. Oh and you don't have much choice in the matter." Minako smiled broadly. Serenity looked horrified. If they went back Beryl would have Minako killed! But if she told her about her encounter with the vengeful princess then it would be even more reason for the girls to want Serenity to go. Her head was swimming.

"There's no use arguing with us Serenity." Rei said with a big smile.

"We all have plans for this evening, and one of them is for Endymion to admit that he loves you." Makoto added.

Serenity sighed. It didn't sound like she had much of a choice anyway. She might as well accept that now. Maybe she could spend the evening concealing herself and her sisters

The five girls got into the large carriage. They were all dressed up quite beautifully. Ami was dressed as a mermaid with a blue green and purple sparkling skirt with a bejeweled bodice. She had pearls around her wrists with blue transparent cloth attached to them and then to her short sleeves. She wore a sapphire encrusted mask and her blue hair had a silver and sapphire tiara in it.

Rei was dressed as a phoenix. She had a long red dress that flared at her thighs. Like Ami she had cloth attached from her wrists to her sleeves, only Rei's was much bigger and was a translucent mix of red yellow and orange. She wore Rubies on her throat and her mask was yellow with red feathers.

Makoto was a stunning peacock. She wore a blue dress with large fathers at the back. Her mask was blue with diamonds and emeralds around the ridge. It had multiple feathers around it.

Minako's parrot costume was hilarious. She wore a bright orange dress that had a low feathered neck and long sparkling sleeves. The skirt of the dress flared out beautifully and it had little sections where the orange fabric was cut away where you could see cloth of blue and yellow. Her mask was bright yellow with little jewels creating eye lashes and bright orange feathers along the fore-head.

Serenity was dazzling. The girls all smiled up at her as she descended the steps of the palace. Hey gown was pure white. It had white beads and pearls sewn into the fabric. Attached to the dress were large, delicate, butterfly wings made from fine wire and white nylon. Her hair was done up in two buns on their side of her head with her long, soft blonde hair streaming down in curly cascades. Her mask was delicate and white. It came down over her cheeks, completely disguising her. Little pearls lined the edges. On her head Minako lay a delicately entwined silver tiara. It had little antennas poking out on top. They were topped with little round diamonds.

"I bought it today in the market. I thought it would perfect the picture." Minako explained as she led a teary Serenity to the large white carriage. They all squished in and directed the driver to go to the prince's palacio. With a sigh from a very nervous Serenity, the girls were heading to the ball.

* * *

"And everything is in place?" Endymion was getting a final fitting into his outfit. Andres was helping him while at the same time adjusting his own costume.

"Yes, except a certain prince refuses to wear his costume."

"Andres, I told you. You are free to make a fool of yourself and wear that getup. I, however, refuse to wear a dead animal."

"You would be a stunning antelope." Andres replied as he fixed his zebra ears on his head.

"You know I think I should start making my prisoners dress as you are right now. I would always be able to pick out their bright white and black stripes."

"You're just jealous." Andres shot back while fixing his large mask on his face. "Do you think this will suffice? I don't really want to be recognized by any of your guests."

"You'll be fine. Andres… do you think she'll come?"

"Endymion… I…"

"No don't." the prince cut off his friend. "I don't want to know what you think. I don't care if she comes or not. I was deceived by her. She told me once that she was only a servant. But she was wrong. Maybe she was a servant by birth, but I believed her to be an angel. Only I too was wrong. She's not a Butterfly, Andres, she's only a moth. The little vixen had me fooled to the end that she cared for me. The night she left I found half my mother's jewels I lent her gone. She must have grabbed them and run. If only I could find Adolfo, the servant vendor, and find out where she came from. I would send a hundred men after that little wench."

Andres was not surprised by Endymion's outburst. He had heard all this before but sensed that Endymion needed to get it off his chest... again. He relaxed and pretended to listen to his friend.

'Why would she do such a thing?' Andres thought 'If she was only after jewels why didn't she leave as soon as she gained access to them? And why hadn't she tried to convince Endy to marry her? If she were such a vixen she would have tried to trick Endy into marriage. There's something missing in this whole story.' Andres looked up to notice that Endymion was finished ranting. He stood up and slowly patted his friend's shoulder. "We'll figure it all out soon. I have to say Darien, I like your final decision about the whole marriage business. Lets go. There's about a hundred and fifty guests out there waiting to hear your decision." With a sigh and a heavy heart, the young men headed out to the ball.

* * *

"Aren't these jewels beautiful?" Beryl asked her minions. She held up the jewels she had stolen from Endymion's mother's room. She took them the night Serenity left to create a reason why she would leave so suddenly.

"Oh yes my queen." They replied. They were eager for her to leave for the ball- being tired of waiting for their mistress to finish getting ready.

"I think I'll just have to wear this tiny little ring." Beryl boasted while holding up a tiny platinum ring with a petite diamond embedded into the metal. She tried to slip it onto her ring finger but found that it was too small. She settled for slipping it onto her pinky. "Well? Aren't you lazy lot ready to leave yet!? Let's go!" Beryl swooshed out of the room with her generals grimly following her.

* * *

They had arrived. Serenity stepped out the carriage last, quickly gulping down the cool night's air. The five girls slowly walked up the palace's steps. Servants took their coats and escorted them to the ballroom. The girls were late so there were already over a hundred guests. Many of them were dancing, though a majority of the young women were in line to greet their prince. The brilliant hall was decorated with ever color and type of flower. There were ribbons around every post and pink champagne filled every glass. Serenity was pleased to see that the servants were able to follow her directions exactly. Serenity looked around the room. She nearly melted when she spied her prince. It must have been a trick of the light… but was he looking straight at her?

_**Okay, I'm so sorry that took so long. But work has been crazy!  
**__**And I'm leaving in two days to go to a cottage for a week and there's  
**__**no computer there. So it'll be another couple of weeks before I can release the… FINAL CHAPTER!!!  
**__**Thanks so much to my loyal readers and reviews!**_


	10. A Butterfly Unleashed

**Caught by a Butterfly****  
Rated M for Mature**

**Last time: **

Serenity was starting to relax. No one had recognized her so far. Her and her friends had split up by now. She could keep an eye on all of them from her table in the corner. They were all dancing and enjoying themselves. Serenity was just thankful that none of them had been recognized by the guests. Especially not by that witch Beryl. Suddenly she felt a strong hand on her shoulder. She slowly turned to see the smiling face of one of the young knights of Endymion's court. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Little Butterfly, will you dance with me?" The knight, Serenity believed his name was Antonio, asked confidently.

Serenity considered refusing to dance with the knight, but if she did she would be able to spy Endymion at a closer angle without seeming to stare. She accepted and the knight was over-joyed.

"It's mighty hard to find any young ladies who want to dance, miss. You see, miss, everyone's here to convince the prince to marry her. And well, miss, there's not much hope for a novice knight like meself to find a dance partner."

Serenity smiled at Antonio. He was a sweet boy. If only he knew that she also had the prince in her heart. As they swept over the ball-room Serenity frequently caught glances of the prince dancing with one lady or laughing with another. Often he was with the princess he had named to Serenity as a possibility for marriage, Ana. She was often laughing at his side. Though, Serenity noticed with a sickening feeling in her stomach, most of the time Beryl was hanging off of him like an overgrown cape.

* * *

Ami was wandering around the ball room. She felt a pang of nostalgia and found herself walking quickly down the hallway to the royal library. She quickly assured herself that her mask was securely on her face and walked confidently into the enormous library. She was happy to see the large room completly empty. She lovingly ran her hands over the enormous volumes. She bent down a picked up the largest volume, the bible. Ami heard a footstep behind her. She gasped as she heard the voice she'd been so longing for. 

"Ami, '_I may be able to speak the languages of human beings and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell. I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have all knowledge and understand all secrets; I may have the faith needed to move mountains-but if I have no love, I am nothing. I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burned-but if I have no love, this does me no good.'_ That's from Corinthians."

Ami stood, slowly removed her mask and turned to show Gregario her tearful face. "I know." She replied. She ran across the room, dropping the bible, and leapt into the young librarian's arms. "I never forgot about you, Gregario. I always wanted to find you, but I never thought that you would remember the little girl you tutored."

Gregario pulled Ami off of him gently. He peered into her blue eyes. "Ami, you could be a princess, a servant or a mermaid. I would never forget about you or fail to recognize your beautiful eyes." With that he lifted the small princess's chin up to meet her lips with his.

* * *

Rei was chatting with Minako on the sidelines of the ball. They watched the beautiful couples dancing by with envy. They were anxious to help Serenity, but at the same time their ached to be dancing with their own lovers. From across the ballroom a figure seemed to be advancing towards the couple. Minako jabbed Rei in her sides. 

"There's someone coming. Do you think it's one of the generals? Don't look to quickly!" Minako quickly warned Rei in barely more than a whisper. Rei turned slightly just in time to spy a young man with long brown hair and a red tunic quickly approaching her table. She turned around quickly and covered her face with her hands.

"What? Rei, what? Is he a general? Should we run!?" Minako was getting hysterical.

"No, no sit down. That's…"

"Good evening ladies." A voice came from behind Rei. She recognized Chad's vague but manly voice immediately. She could feel her cheeks reddening.

"May I have the pleasure of dancing with one of you fair maidens?" The young knight's voice was wavering slightly. Rei realized that he was nervous. Minako could read Rei's masked face like a book. 'This must be the knight that Rei couldn't stop talking about…' Minako realized.

With a crafty glance at Rei, Minako looked up at the young knight with the most seductive gaze she could muster. "I would be delighted sir, thank you ever _so_ much for asking." Rei's jaw hit the floor. Minako? With Chad!? How could she!? How could he?!

The blond stood and took the knight's offered hand. Rei stood, her mouth still hanging open. Suddenly Minako tripped. Well, it appeared as though she tripped. In fact, as Rei could clearly see from her table, she fell on purpose. Chad, being gallant, was there to catch her. Minako landed cleanly onto his shoulder, their bodies pressed against each other. Rei could see Minako whisper seductively into Chad's ear. Suddenly Chad pulled away and shook his head. He replied to the young blond with a bowed head. Minako smiled, lifted his chin and spoke to him. Suddenly he released the princess and stared at the fiery charcoal-haired beauty at the table. Rei's world moved in slow motion from that moment on. All she could process was Minako's smiling face and Chad's strong, advancing form. Suddenly she felt strong arms around her and her chest being pressed into his.

Chad pulled away. "Is it really you? Are you really the little maid I look forward to seeing everyday? Are you Rei?"

Rei blushed and looked away. "Yes, I am. But I'm not a maid. I am fourth inline to the throne. I am the daughter of Reila of Seville. I am sorry I misled you and I promise I will never lie to you again and I understand if you hate me and-" Rei could no long speak. Her lips were otherwise occupied.

* * *

Minako gazed at the young couple embracing. She sighed and thought of the man she wished she was kissing. Suddenly a strong arm linked around hers and she could feel cold leather on her cheek. She froze. She recognized this leather, this whip. " It-it-it-it's-s-s you." 

Nephrite laughed quietly. He circled his cape around the shoulders of the princess so no one else could see where his whip was going.

"We're going to have a little fun you little vixen. And if you say one word you will be in a world of pain." Nephrite whispered menacingly in Minako's ear. She felt tears spring to her eyes but she forced them back; no General would see her tears. Nephrite led the squirming princess away into the hallway and then into the closest room he could find. Coincidentally, that was the library. Minako finally let out a scream and tried to pull herself away from the built General.

"Just try you little child. There's no one to help you!" Nephrite pushed the little blond princess onto the cold floor and started to rip her beautiful gown. Mina cried out even more loudly as Nephrite's grimy whip worked it's way around her curvy breasts and down to her navel.

"Please…" Minako whimpered, fear consumed the small princess.

"That's right blondy, beg for me!" Nephrite smirked as his whip traveled lower.

Just as Nephrite was about to rip down the rest of Minako's dress a heavy book made contact with the brunette General's head. With a thump Nephrite was out cold. Minako shrieked and pulled herself away from her abuser. She pulled herself into a tight ball and wept. Suddenly strong arms circled her. The scent was familiar. Minako turned and sobbed into Andres' arms.

"Shh, ma cherie." The French prince whispered. "He'll be locked up darling. He will never hurt you again."

"Oh Andres… I thought he was going to… oh thank you so much… I own you my life, thank you my love!"

With that the prince pulled away a little to look Minako in the face.

"You know my name? Who… who are you ma petite demoiselle?" Andres lifted the mask that was still fastened onto Minako's soft face. Upon lifting the bright yellow parrot mask Andres was staring into the tearful face of his little servant girl he'd grown so fond of. "Minako! Is that really you? I searched the castle for days to try and find you but it was as though you vanished!"

"Andres… I missed you." With that the little princess passed out in the strong Frenchman's arms.

* * *

Minako woke up with a start. She was in a strangely familiar room. She heard a sound next to her and quickly turned. Andres was crouched next to her… well his… bed and smiled when he saw that she was awake. 

Minako quickly remembered what had happened and whimpered softly. Andres leaped up worriedly.

"Are you hurt? Do you need something?"

"No, no. I'm fine. I was just.. remembering." Minako winced slightly but already the emotional scars seemed to be healing. "How long was I out?"

"Only about 5 minutes. When you fainted I carried you up to my chambers… You do realize this is the second time that bastard has given me an excuse to carry you to my bed."

"And undress me…?" Minako smiled fainted as she noticed that she was only wearing a white bathrobe. Andres looked alarmed.

"Oh no! My maid did that while I was ordering the guards to throw that miscreant into the dungeon. May I add, he has quite the head-ache." Andres flashed Minako his million-dollar smile.

"I suppose you're wondering why a maid was at the royal ball, aren't you." Minako said as she sat up in the prince's bed. She gestured for him to sit next to her. The prince willingly took the offered seat and replied.

"Well, no. Not really. You are Princess Minako, sister of Princess Serenity, daughter of Count Kenji and Countess Ikuko." Andres laughed at Minako's wide eyes and gaping mouth. "No, I didn't know all along. And no, I'm not a psychic. That idiot told us everything in exchange for a rat-free dungeon. Do you know about Beryl?"

"No, tell me everything."

In the next few minutes, as Minako dressed in a gown a maid brought, Andres explained Beryl's entire plan including her threat to murder Mina and forcing Serenity to leave the palace.

"I need to make this right before I have to leave for France!" Andres ended with a helpless expression.

"I agree lets go- wait. France? You're going back?" Mina's face was clouded over.

"Well, yes. That's why I've been searching for you. I wanted to tell you before I left… I wanted to say goodbye."

Mina's heart broke in half. He wanted to say goodbye… but she had bigger things to worry about right now.

"Never mind that. We have a ball to crash!"

* * *

Makoto looked around her. Ami was dancing cheek to cheek with Gregario, Rei and Chad were chatting sensuously and Minako was nowhere to be seen. Makoto thought of the man she cared for. Her Olegario. She had only known him for a few days but she had fallen in love with him the second she'd met him. And she just knew he was in danger. Why else would have those damn generals been looking for him? Makoto wrung her hands anxiously. She turned down every knight, count and duke who asked her to dance. She was simply too anxious. Then she saw him. He was wearing a black mask that covered his eyes and has on a black tuxedo and a fedora. Makoto felt her heart jump. He was heading towards her. Makoto's heart was running a marathon. He was getting closer… and closer… The strong princess thought she might actually faint for the first time in her life. He was standing in front of her… and then he passed by. Makoto shook her head. 

'Of course you silly girl! You're wearing a mask, he hasn't seen you a month, you only knew him for a few days and that might not even be him!' Suddenly Makoto was jerked sideways. Just as she was about to cry out she realized that she was in the arms of the mysterious masked gentleman.

"Quick, I can't explain but you need to dance with me." His voice in Makoto's ear made goose bumps cover her body. She meekly nodded her consent.

"I'm being followed. There are men here who are trying to kill me. But I had to come."

"Olegario! Why are people trying to kill you? Do you owe someone money? I have plenty of money dear, just tell me! I don't want you to be in trouble, what trouble could a kitchen boy cause?"

The masked man stopped dancing. He peered into Makoto's deep green eyes. His own widened.

"I have to disappear. This won't be the last time you see me."

With that the masked man ran from view, leaving Makoto alone.

* * *

Endymion was dancing with Beryl. Again. He was getting tired of her constant gossip. All she seemed to be able to speak of were how fat or ugly or boring the other women were. Endymion knew she was only do so to make him choose her by eliminating the other possibilities. 'If only she knew what my decision is to be…' Beryl suddenly stared coughing. As her hand came up to her mouth Endymion noticed something very sparkly. And beautiful. A ring. Endymion grabbed Beryl's smooth white hand and gazed at the ring on her pinkie finger. 

_Endymion is three years old. His mother is holding him on her lap. There's another figure in the room but he is fuzzy. Endymion had just been to a gypsy who'd told him his future by reading his palm. Now he was making up stories for his mother using her hand. He looks at the ring on her ring finger on her right hand. "Where did you get this mommy?" Endymion's mother smiles warmly "Your father gave me this ring when you were born. He said that it's a perfect ring to remind me of my perfect boys." Endymion laughs as his mother tickles him and he hears another voice laughing in the room as well. _

"This ring… This is my mother's ring!" Beryl's face went pale. She tried to pull her hand away but Endymion grabbed her wrist with surprising force and ripped the ring off her finger.

"Guards!" Endymion shouted, "Guards! Arrest this woman! It was you who stole all of my mothers jewels, wasn't it!? And it was you who led me to believe it was Usagi! Guards throw this despicable wench into the dungeons with the rats, where she belongs!"

It took three guards to haul away the thrashing countess, but finally she was out of sight and Endymion could breathe. He felt so deceived… that meant that Usagi hadn't stolen his mothers jewels… so why had she disappeared?

The clock struck midnight. Trumpets sounded. The time for Endymion to announce his new bride had arrived.

* * *

Minako and Andres could hear the clocks chiming around the house as they ran towards the ballroom. 

"Will we get there in time?" Minako asked, out of breath.

"If we fly!" Andres replied.

* * *

Serenity heard the trumpets and, like everyone else turned her attention towards the stairway where Endymion was standing. The stairway was very wide with a large plateau halfway up where the stairs divided into two different directions. It was really more of a stage than a stairway. The young prince seemed flushed but he was prepared to make his speech. Next to him stood an older gentleman with a disagreeable look on his face. Serenity realized, without question, that this must be his uncle who intended to take over the throne. 

"This ball has had a double purpose for me. Firstly, I am to announce who I wish to spend the rest of my life with. The second is to wish my dearest friend, Andres a safe journey to France where he will be reunited with his family after his time in my court. Andres, are you there?" Endymion search the crowd for his beloved friend. Suddenly Andres and a blond woman charged into the ballroom. "There you are! My friend Andres, please come up here." Andres was obviously out of breath but he made his way calmly to where his friend was standing, he kept Minako's hand in his the entire time. "My dear friend," Endymion began, "I wish you nothing but happiness in France and hope that you find a woman to be your queen. I give you my blessing for the rest of your life and I am anticipating my next visit to your court."

"My dear friend, I thank you for your well-wishing, but I have found a woman to be my bride." Andres turned to Minako and bent down on one knee. Minako's heart was racing. "Minako, will you marry me?" From the crowd came many gasps but the loudest ones came from four separate parts of the room. Suddenly four very beautiful girls came shrieking to the stairs. All were masked and they were all fussing over Minako. The little blond princess tried to quiet them down. Finally a very amused Endymion ordered the trumpeters to sounds a few notes. This, finally, quieted down the girls.

"You'll have to excuse my sister and cousins, your highness. They're simply excited because they know my answer is, with any doubt, yes. I will marry you!" With that Andres took Minako in his arms and kissed her with such passion that tears sprang to Serenity's eyes. Suddenly she realized her close proximity to the prince. Her back was to him but really they were only a couple of feet apart. She could turn around and kiss him right now… Serenity, like everyone else, had not failed to notice Beryl being sent to the dungeon. What was stopping her now from claiming what her heart longed for. The Endymion spoke again.

"Well now that my comrade has had a wonderful send off, I'm afraid it's time to announce my plans for marriage. So I will now announce to all you lovely ladies what my choice is. You see, I had 45 beautiful women come to my castle and live with me for the past month. My purpose was to find a woman who would make the perfect queen and a perfect bride. And I succeeded. The lady I fell in love with is charismatic, stubborn, proud, beautiful, and flawless. However, this maiden left me. So I have decided to refuse the crown." Everyone in the room was silent.

"What does this mean?" Came a voice from the crowd. Endymion's uncle wore a wicked smile. He knew exactly what this would mean.

"This means," Endymion said with a breath, "That my next of kin shall inherit the throne and that is…"

"Me!" A voice rang out from the crowd. Suddenly a man in a black mask came running up to the stairs, joining everyone else.

"Who are you!?" Demanded Endymion's uncle, outraged that someone would take away his thunder.

"Don't you recognize me? You were the one who ordered me to be killed!" A gasp rang out from the ballroom. Endymion's uncle looked uncomfortable he was looking around as if plotting his escape.

"Who are you? Remove your mask immediately!" Endymion ordered.

"Very well." With a flourish the mask and hat were thrown off. Beneath the disguise lay the face of the man Makoto was in love with.

"Olegario!" She cried out.

"No, love. I'm afraid that's not my real name. My name is Desiderio. And I am Endymion's twin brother."

Endymion's eyes were wide as saucers and his uncle continued to look uncomfortable.

"I was taken away when I was four years old. This man," Desiderio pointed at his uncle, "kidnapped me and took me to Italy where I was kept hidden. I only managed to escape with the help of a kind friend. I found out that my family was told that I was dead. I learnt of my father and mothers deaths as well. I came here to greet my brother, only to find that my uncle had discovered my escape and positioned generals around the castle to keep me out. I disguised myself as a simple kitchen boy named Olegario. I kept quiet until now. Endymion, please, you remember me don't you? Your little brother?"

Endymion's mind flashed as he remembered that day with his mother… She had said _"Your father gave me this ring when you were born. He said that it's a perfect ring to remind me of my perfect boys."_ Not boy. Boys. Two boys. And that other person's laughter… it had been his… Yes! His brother!

"I have a brother… Desiderio… I remember you! Everyone! I have a brother! I have a brother and-" Endymion turned to his new brother, "you are now king!" Endymion turned and embraced his long lost brother.

"Oh but wait!" The voice of their uncle came from behind the men. "Your father's will still states that his son must find a bride by his birthday to be king! Today is both of your birthdays, and neither of you have chosen a bride!"

"That's where you're wrong sir." Said Makoto stepping forward. She turned to Desiderio, "I promised myself that if I ever had to opportunity to meet you again I would not let it pass. I've loved you since that first day in the kitchen. Desiderio, will you marry me?"

"I thought that was my job." Desiderio teased softly, wrapping his arm around Makoto's waist.

"Is that a yes?" Makoto asked, looking into his eyes.

"Yes. Of course I'll marry you." Olegario leaned forward and kissed his new fiance. "Guards, throw my loving uncle in the dirtiest, most rat-infested cell of our dungeons if you please." Endymion ordered. The entire ballroom cheered.

"Wait! There's still one matter left to be resolved!" It was Minako who spoke. Her arm was around her fiancé, and her face was lined with concern and the little blond butterfly with her back to Endymion was shaking her head. 'Wait… butterfly?' Endymion thought absentmindedly…

"Prince Endymion, I would like to introduce to you my sister. The Princess Serenity." With that the little butterfly turned around and lifted her mask. Endymion's eyes opened wide. His jaw fell slack. "Us-Usagi? Mariposa? Is that… you?"

"My name-" Serenity began, though she was choked with tears, "Is Princess Serenity, daughter of Count Kenji and Countess Ikuko. I came to your household, with my sister and cousins, as maids to learn your secrets and humiliate you. Our plan was to ruin you. But when I got to know you… our plans changed. Then I had to leave, I was threatened. Now, all I can do is ask for your forgiveness and hope that you will consider giving me another chance." Tears were streaming down the princess's face. All eyes were on the prince, wondering what he was going to do.

"I forgave you for your insolence as a maid. I forgave you for your teasing as my aid. And I forgave your status when I wished to have you as my wife. Asking me to forgive your deceit, however, is pushing me too far. Goodbye, _princess._"

Serenity let out a great sob as she collapsed to the floor. Minako was at her side at once. Endymion simply walked up the stairs to his chambers.

* * *

A lot had happened in the past week. Minako and Andres, Desiderio and Makoto, Ami and Gregario and Rei and Chad were all married together in the same chapel. The service was small, only immediate family members were present. Endymion was quick to accept his new brother into his heart and was confident that he could rule Spain justly and fairly. Serenity was staying in the palace, of course, while Minako was preparing for the wedding, though she and Endymion did not speak. Beryl, the generals and Endymion's uncle had been sent off to Australia, a new prison somewhere in the ocean and everyone was happier for it. 

It had been exactly seven days since that ball that changed everyone's lives. They were all seated around the large dining room table, Serenity and Endymion at opposite ends of course. Minako suddenly clinked her glass. "I have some news everyone!" The newlywed Dauphine (_a princess of France_) looked radiant and happier than anyone had ever seen her. "My darling sister, after much persuasion from Andres and myself, has finally decided to accompany us to France! She will live there as a member of the court, isn't that wonderful!"

"No! It's downright appalling!" Rei replied jokingly. "Now I'm losing my two… blondest cousins!"

"You can't both go! Now that we're all married we'll barely see each other! Serenity was going to hold us together!" Makoto objected with a pout.

"Yes. I know I was planning on staying here." Serenity replied quietly. Her eyes did not leave the table. "But after thinking things through, I decided that my sister needed a companion in her new life more than I am needed here. I will write to you all often. And France really isn't that far away."

The three girls, Ami, Makoto and Rei, all jumped up to hug their dear cousin.

Endymion sat silently at his end of the table. 'Serenity's leaving… I won't see her again… ever…' He lost his appetite. Without saying a word he stood and left the table. Andres noticed his departure and frowned. 'What am I going to do with him…?'

* * *

Serenity was sitting in her room. She had just finished packing. It wasn't a difficult task, most of her things had already been sent over in trunks last week during Minako's wedding. Only a few gowns needed to be put into another trunk. She was leaving in the morning. There was a knock at the door. 

"Come in!"

Endymion entered the room. Serenity froze. Then quickly she stood up and curtsied.

"Your highness, thank you for gracing my chamber with your presence, is there anything you desire?" Serenity's eyes never ventured as high as the prince's face. If they had she would have seen that his eyes were full of hurt.

"Serenity, stop. No formalities. This is me. You know me. Forgive me Serenity. I don't deserve it, but forgive me. I've been an idiot. I should never have refused you at the ball. I was overwhelmed and frustrated and I am sorry. Will you forgive me? Will you stay?"

Serenity's head was swimming. She sat down slowly on her bed. She looked the prince in the eyes for the first time since he'd entered the room.

"No." She replied. "Fate has proven that we are not meant to be. I have had a lot of time to think, your highness. I am leaving in the morning. _Buenos Noches_."Serenity turned around so her back was to the prince. Endymion felt numb. He left the room. Forever.

* * *

The next morning all the trunks were being packed into the carriages. Serenity, Minako and Andres were hugging everyone goodbye. Everybody had come to give their best wishes for the journey: Rei, Ami, Makoto, Desiderio, Gregario, Chad and Endymion. 

The three royals stepped into one of the carriage. And they went off. The last glimpse of Serenity Endymion ever had was her hand, waving goodbye.

…For about 2 minutes. Suddenly the carriage stopped. Serenity came running out of it with Minako's smiling head popping out the window Endymion's heart was racing. Serenity jumped on the prince covering his face with kisses which he warmly returned.

"How many times," Serenity asked, out of breath, "Do you think we'll have to mess up before we realize we're meant to be together?"

"No more. Little butterfly, no more."

**Epilogue:**

Endymion did not take the throne, though it was offered to him. He and Serenity were married in a beautiful cathedral in Madrid. They spend half the year in Spain with Desiderio and Makoto and the other half in France with Minako and Andres.

Ami and Gregario stayed happily married and lived in Desiderio's palacio. Gregario remained head librarian and Ami became a medicine woman for the palace and a frequent visitor of the library. They never had children, they were content just to be together with their books. Ami's parents didn't like the match but there was little they could do. Also, who could complain. They were now the parents of the queen of Spain.

Rei and Chad never settled down. They traveled constantly but were always welcome in Spain and France. They had one little girl and named her Reila after Rei's mother.

Minako and Andres lived very happily in France. They had five children, four girls and one boy. Minako names each of the girls after her sister and cousins and the boy was named Artimis.

Makoto and Olegario lived contentedly in Spain and worked hard at making their citizens happy. They never had children, though they tried very hard.

Serenity and Endymion lived happily with their three children. Two twin girls and one boy. The boy, the eldest, was named Darien while the little girls were Chibiusa and Rini. The little girls were identical and had red hair like their grandmother. Darien was quiet and proud. He was also the next ruler of Spain since the royal family did not produce an offspring. Serenity and Endymion fought constantly but they always found ways of making up and most of their arguments would end with laughter. Everyone looked forward to their family visiting their home for with them they would bring with them laughter and joy.

And, overall, it can be said that everyone lived Happily Ever After.

* * *

**Okay readers ! That's it! It took a month and a half but that's it. I finally finished. I hope you're happy with it. It took a lot of work. So review and tell me what you thought. This might be my last story ever for fanfiction, but just in case keep an eye out for me.  
PS: that was 5000 words long!**


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